Searching for Answers
by Fuentalator
Summary: Lost, alone, and left behind by the world. Everyone turned their backs on her, so that was all she knew. She closed her heart off and only wanted one thing in her life: answers. Why did they die? Who sent the killer? Where were the bodies? Why did no one want her? She'll find her answers, but not without opening the wounds and allow herself to be vulnerable. Follows MCU timeline
1. Avengers 1

After the demolishment of the secret underground facility that S.H.I.E.L.D tried to keep for the Tesseract, Nick Fury looked out into the desert with his usual stoic demeanor. Yet his eyes gave away what he was truly thinking. He knew that it was time to set in motion the plan of which he set into motion a long time ago. He called for a Code Seven, stating that the world was now at war and he needed his unbeatable army. He called Coulson to call Romanoff to make the arrangements ready for his soldiers, but after he had to think. Loki, being the esteemed Norse God of Mischief, and Barton, one of his top spies, he knew he needed someone who no one knew of. A little legend between the No See/No Hear means nothing happened groups. So he made another call.

He used a number that one of his younger agents extracted and sent to him before they were terminated on their assignment. The call had three rings then the line was picked up. There was no tone in the line, and to the untrained ear, it would have sound like nothing, but to agents someone was clearly listening in to the caller. "I have a job," Nick said in a stoic voice. The line was silent for a moment until a nasal raspy old female voice quoted, "You are in a room that is completely bricked in on all four sides, including the ceiling and floor. You have nothing but a mirror and a wooden table in the room with you. How do you get out?" Nick thought only for a second and replied, "You look in the mirror you see what you saw, you take the saw and you cut the table in half, two halves make a whole, and you climb out the hole." He felt the woman smirk through the phone and she asked, "What's the job?" Nick explained, "I need a cunning young agent. I want "her."" Nick emphasized the "her." The woman cackled on the other side and questioned again, "Job?" Nick thought of his words carefully and stated, "I need her to steal something for me. A standard in and out, don't care who all she takes out, kind of job." The woman then said manically, "Why call us "Fury?" Why not one of your agents?" Nick replied without hesitation, "I need someone who is not afraid to deal with monsters." The woman then cackled again and stated, "Double her usual fee, and you have a deal." Nick then replied, "Very well. She is to meet up at the coordinates I will send, and do as ordered." The woman stated slyly, "Don't worry, she always does," and hung up the phone on Fury. Fury thought about whom he just called and said, "I hope this will work." He went out and prepared to make his preparations for his guest. On the other side of the line, the dark figure woman turned to her kneeling agents and said in a commanding tone, "VIDE, SIS EST! Extraction from S.H.I.E.L.D.. You know what to do." A young masked agent bowed her head even further to the figure before her and replied, "Yes, Guild Master."

The young agent walked to her room and found the coordinates of where she needed to head to immediately and she took off. She used her skills to harness a small jet to take her out to one of her safe houses to stock up on supplies. Standard issued guns, knives, a small blade katana, grenades, energy bars and drinks, water, a small stereo, her earphones, and her favorite weapon. She took the jet out to where the coordinates that the agent Fury sent to the Guild Master and they took her to the middle of a navy like ship out in the middle of the ocean. She landed the plane by telling them that Fury sent for her and once she landed and got off the plane, a deep brunet-haired woman stood before her in a S.H.I.E.L.D. uniform. The young agent smirked beneath her black haft-masked face that only covered her face from the nose and under eyes down, and spoked cockily, "Hill. It's been a while. Last time I remember, Imphal, right?" Hill just approached the young agent, handed her a little too big for her liking file, and stated, "Learn these. You will need them for the assignment." The young agent replied, "Alright, Capitan." The young agent walked into the large ship, a new recruit to showed her to her private quarters of the vessel, and the young agent began to study what she needed to know. As she studied, she saw a bunch of pictures with human profiles and she stated, "I'll look over those later," and she looked at the scientific part of the folder. She examined it for a moment until she remembered where she saw this before and questioned, "Thermal Nuclear Astrophysics? What would S.H.I.E.L.D. need with that?" Then she began to read the work of one Dr. Selvig and she began to understand why S.H.I.E.L.D. had this man. "An unlimited energy source, my ass," the young agent began, "I sincerely hope that anyone will not buy this bullshit." Then she thought that she needed to get into the S.H.I.E.L.D. files for her extraction assignment, but she would have to wait. She sighed heavily and read the rest of the report, starting with the Physics and ending with the people who she might have had to work with.

* * *

The young agent stayed up all night to fully read and look up details on these so called, "Avengers Initiates." A lab-cooked old school soldier boy, an over-obsessed child with big toys, a man with anger management issues that put Charlie Sheen to shame, a Pantene spokesmodel of a "god," and the woman of mystery who she had history with, that was the S.H.I.E.L.D. A-team? She went out the landing deck, hopped up on one of the jets, and basked in the sun with her black crop top that was a turtleneck with no sleeves and black shorts that went to her thighs. She had on black ankle boots with no heel extension and she wore black fingerless gloves. Her mask was still on and her medium brown hair was put into a mid-level ponytail that made it reach her upper mid back. She ignored the rustlings of the soldiers of SHEILD and listened to the rolling waves of the ocean.

She heard the sound of a helicarrier land on the landing deck and she glanced over to see who all was coming out of the plane. She saw her "dear old friend" Agent Romanoff going up to the passengers and I saw the nicely dressed man in shades introduce them to each other. The man in the brown leather jacket and shirt that was too old even for her dead grandfather to wear was none other than Captain Steve Rogers. She heard him call Romanoff "Ma'am" and the young agent resting on the plane scoffed as if he insulted her. She called off the man in the suit and began to talk to Captain Rogers as they walked over to the edge of the ship to overlook the side of the ocean. The young agent was still in her spot on the plane that was right near the edge that they were walking to, and she just intently listened to whatever they had to say. She heard "Rogers" call out to the squeamish looking man who looked like a terrified mouse within a house full of cats. She looked casually over to the men as they awkwardly communicated with each other. Romanoff told them that they might want to go inside because it was going to get a little harder to breathe. The ship then began to morph like a Transformer and then the young agent understood what Romanoff meant. Captain Rogers asked if that vessel was a submarine and the squeamish man asked if they really wanted him in a submerged, pressurized, metal container, and that is when the young agent spoke from her spot. "Oh you wish," she stated with no tone in her voice. All three of the people looked up to see the agent sit up from her spot, jump down next to the two men, and began to walk over to the side. They followed her to see that there was fan like engines getting ready to fly and the squeamish man replied, "No, no, this is much worse." The young agent bopped her head to her right shoulder, pivoted, and began to walk to the inside of the ship. Agent Romanoff glared at the young agent as she walked past her.

The young agent was the first to make it out to the control area of the ship and she sat down at the table to wait for the other guest. Fury, already being at his post, turned around to address her. "Are you briefed?" he asked her stoically. "As much as I need to be," she replied back with the same tone, her eyes not giving away any emotion. They waited a moment until the three from the landing dock arrived and watched them all diligently as they walked out to the command center. Rogers was astonish by what he saw and the squeamish man looked even more nervous than before, if that was even possible. The young agent looked at Agent Hill secure the vessel making sure every was as it was supposed to be and checked it to Fury who told his crew to vanish. Fury turned back to the table again and addressed the men who came in, "Gentlemen." The young agent noticed that Rogers slipped Fury a ten and she raised an eyebrow, but decided not to question it. Fury went up to the squeamish man while Rogers went out to admire the sky, "Doctor, thank you for coming." Fury offered him a handshake and the man didn't look to happy and responded, "Thanks for asking nicely. So, how long am I staying?" The agent perked her ears to listen carefully, because she wanted to know the answer to that as well as the "doctor" did. Fury stated that when the Tesseract was found then they could go. "Where are you with that?" the young agent spoke up emotionlessly from her seat. Both of the men turned to her with shocked expressions on their faces. The man in the suit from earlier said that they were sweeping every wirelessly accessible camera on the planet. The young agent glanced swiftly over at Rogers who had a look of confusion on his face. Romanoff said that would take too long and the young agent replied, "That's too wide of a field. You need to narrow it down." Fury looked confused and the doctor asked, "How many spectrometers do you have access to?" Fury crossed his arms and asked, "How many are there?" The young agent then spoke, "Tell every lab you have access to, to get their spectrometers on the roof and calibrate them for gamma radiation." The doctor whipped around to the agent sitting at the table with no expression and continued, "I'll rough out a tracking algorithm, basic cluster recognition. At least we could rule out a few places." The doctor then walked over to the table and asked quietly, "How did you-" the young agent cut him off, "I read the report yesterday and caught up with the other logistics after I finished my folder reading, Doctor Banner. My name is Phantom." Phantom was quiet when answering him and then went back to observing the deck with complete focus in her eyes. Banner was stunned by Phantom, even with the packet briefing, it wouldn't be sufficient enough to produce enough knowledge to know how gamma radiation works. Banner chose to ask later then asked Fury if he had a workstation for him and Fury ordered Romanoff to show Banner to his laboratory. Romanoff teased Banner as they made their way out of the room.

After they left, Captain Rogers glanced over to the young girl and began to assess her within his mind. "She can't even be in her late teens yet. Her body is too small to be fully grown and her voice isn't fully developed either. She's also showing way too much skin for a child," Rogers though diligently. He made an assumption and walked over to the young girl. He began with, "Hi, I'm Captain Steve Rogers, and might I ask who you are?" The young girl glanced up to him and stated, "Phantom. That's what you may call me." He pulled up a seat next to her and tried to initiate a conversation, "So are you a S.H.I.E.L.D agent? When did you start? Are your parents S.H.I.E.L.D agents as well? How old exactly are-" Phantom raised her left hand up to him as a way to silence him and responded stoically, "No. Didn't. Never, and you don't need to know that. Captain, no disrespect, but you don't need to know anything about me." Phantom then went back to observing the control room, and Rogers took off his jacket and put it on her shoulders while stating, "I know you're too young to show that much skin. Plus, it's cold in here." She was about to object to him, by stating that she didn't need his jacket but he already walked over to Coulson. She then just kept it on her shoulders and continued to observe the room, waiting for her chances to work.

* * *

After hours of looking, Phantom heard one of the computers beeping from the left side of the controlling room. It said 79% cross match, and that was when Fury nodded to her and she dashed to her room to gather her guns, knives, earphones, IPod, and her special weapon. She put on her black leather trench coat that had a hoodie and went down to her ankle. She walked over to the quinjets and waited for the others to come, but only Romanoff and Rogers came. Rogers was in his Captain America suit while Romanoff was in her tradition black tight cat suit. When all three of them went into the quinjet and sat at the positions. Rogers looked up to Phantom and said with concern, "Just stay here. I don't want you to get hurt." Phantom then responded with no emotions, "That's sweet of you to care, but I have a job to do Rogers. I can handle myself, just as much as you can." The rest of the flight was quiet until Captain spilled out the game plan. He tried to keep Phantom out, but she told him that she was going to fight, with or without his permission by stating, "I work for Fury, not you Captain. I was hired to obtain the Tesseract by any means necessary and I fully intend to do so." The rest of the flight was quiet. Steve chose to jump out of the plane, like some daredevil, while Phantom had Romanoff drop her off on a street nearby. While she waited, Phantom took out her IPod with her wireless earbuds and put on "Not Afraid" by Eminem. Phantom ran over to an unoccupied motorcycle and hotwired it. She drove off to where she calculated Captain would be dropping and drove up to see a boatload of citizens kneeling to a man with large ram-like gold horns without the curve. She heard the man addressing Captain while Romanoff came up in the helicarrier with her big gun ready to fire. Using the moment of distraction she jumped off the motorcycle and rolled around the people who were kneeling to get closer to the target without being noticed.

When the man fired and Captain threw his shield, Phantom sprung into action to aid Captain America. When Loki hit Captain to a distance, Phantom whipped out her special weapon and locked into a strength off between her weapon and Loki's. "A scythe? A weapon of death, wouldn't you agree?" Loki taunted at Phantom. She didn't seemed phased but she put more strength into pushing Loki's scepter away and went for his left side. He managed to barely block her, but then she went for a bottom sweep and tripped him up. Using her momentum, she hit the side of his helmet with the bottom staff of the scythe, stomped him on his right foot, spun around, elbowed him in the gut, then jumped, and kicked him three feet away. She then ran towards him and he swung his scepter at her, she managed to block it, but it sent her at a distance and Captain rejoined the fight by sending his shield at Loki. Loki hit the shield with his scepter to the ground and Captain charged at him, and then they both went to go at him. When Captain fell, Loki put his scepter on Captain and commanded him to kneel. Captain responded by grabbing the scepter and kicking him in the chest. Phantom reran up to the men and fought with Loki on her own. She used spins to keep up her speed, but as soon as she went for a reverse back kick, she noticed Captain would have also been hit, so she slowed it down. Loki realized, so he grabbed her leg and used the momentum to send her over the stairs. Then out of no where AC/DC's "Shoot to Thrill" came blaring from the helicarriers PA system. A robot looking machine flew up and blasted Loki to the stairs a few steps away from Phantom. Loki hit his back hard against the stairs and the robot man had a miniature missile and a blaster pointed at Loki, and with a cocky voice the man inside challenged, "Make your move, Reindeer Games." Phantom, refusing to think that she wouldn't be the one getting the guy, appeared behind him, and put the blade of her scythe against his throat holding it with her right hand while the left held the staff, "And choose carefully, Rudolf." Captain came up with his shield, trying to look threatening, Loki's armor disappeared and he put his hands up in surrender. The robot man dropped his weapons while Phantom kept her scythe on his neck until she knew that he was incapacitated. "Good move," the robot man began. His head moved over to the girl holding a scythe against the criminals neck and said with slight mockery in his voice, "Nice side-kicking, I like you." The girl smirked beneath her mask and said with little to no emotion, "It's hard not to." The two men then addressed each other awkwardly and Romanoff came with handcuffs, and cuffed Loki while Phantom kept thinking over the scenario, "He easily fought off Captain and me. Even if Stark finally showed up, using that staff, he could have gotten away. I need to watch him. This wasn't a surrender, this was an enter the enemy base operation."

* * *

While on the helicarrier, Phantom sat at the opposite side of Loki while holding out a handheld gun aimed at his head, ready to strike if need be. While watching, Captain and Stark observed the two before them as if they were trying to enter within their heads. Captain had a look of confusion in his eyes while Stark kept eyes on them as if he was solving an advance mathematical equation. Eventually, Captain couldn't contain himself anymore and he turned his back and started to discuss with Stark, "I don't like it." Stark then commented, "What, Rock of Ages giving up so easily?" Captain then tried to object to Loki being taken was easy because he packed a punch, but Phantom knew what Stark was getting at. Loki did give up too easily. Stark then went on to tease Captain about his age and when Stark said "Capsicle," Phantom let out a snort trying not to laugh at the pun. Both the men then glanced over to Phantom who retained her usual no expression, while keeping her gun pointed at Loki. Captain then commented, "Fury didn't tell me that he was calling you in." Stark kept his gaze at Phantom, motioning over to her, replying, "Yeah, there's a lot of things Fury doesn't tell you."

Sensing that Stark was going to ask something, Phantom turned her head over to the men, until lightning started to spring out of nowhere. Loki then leaned forward, looking onto the ceiling windows, as if he was afraid of something to appear. Captain noticed, so he decided to question, "What's the matter? Are you scared of a little lightning?" Loki looked as if he was offended and remembered something vile within his eyes, "I'm not overly fond of what follows." Phantom then evaluated what Loki said and then it clicked. She grabbed onto her scythe and hid on a small narrow corner of the helicarrier by the door. Captain and Stark both looked puzzled of why she was doing what she was doing. Then a giant thump came over the vessel and everyone felt the impact and thought of what exactly that could have been. Phantom, already aware of what or who it might be, sat quietly for the intruder. Stark put on his helmet and opened the door to face whatever was out there. Captain, not knowing Stark's plan, question him until a large muscular man appeared in the front. He had on a long red cape, and long gorgeous blond hair. Loki then looked immediately afraid of the trespasser, and Stark went up to face him. When Stark put up his blaster, the intruder hit him with his giant hammer into Captain, and walked over to Loki. He grabbed Loki by the front of his shirt, then went to his shoulder as they walked out. Before they took off, Phantom came out of her spot, wrapped her staff around the neck of the intruder, and held on while the three of them took off.

As they went through the sky, the intruder yelled, "How dare you latch onto me, Thor, Son of Odin?! Unhand me or face your demise!" He thrashed his body to shake off the pest that wouldn't dare to let go. "IF I LET YOU GO, I WILL MEET MY DEMISE!" Phantom yelled back defiantly, struggling to keep her grip. Thor landed in a cliff overlooking a forest. He threw Loki to the ground, grabbed Phantom and threw her a distance away. She put her hands up in the air, surrendering, and yelled, "HEY, HEY HEY! I DON'T WANT TO FIGHT YOU!" Thor then went up to her and asked, "Then why follow us?" Phantom knew not to lie because she knew that Loki was the God of Mischief and Lies, so she decided to tell the truth: "I was hired to get Loki, because he took something that wasn't his. My boss wants it back, so he hired me to obtain it because I am one of the best at what I do. I don't want to harm or kill Loki, but I do need him for interrogation to find what he stole." Thor then looked taken back by her confession, and he stated, "What did Loki take?" She looked up at him with her azure eyes and stated, "The Tesseract." Thor then looked deeply into her azure eyes and said, "The Tesseract doesn't belong on Mid-Guard, as for your boss. I will tell him the same and see that you will be paid for going after Loki, my young warrior." Phantom wasn't too happy about that answer, so she requested as innocently as her stomach would let her to play at Thor's gentlemanly side that she read about in his profile, "May I at least take Loki in to show my boss that I did locate and capture him and then you may barter with my superiors?" Thor then smiled at the young girl and agreed. He turned his attention over to Loki with strictness in his eyes.

Thor went up to Loki demanding to know where the Tesseract was. Loki played with Thor by saying that he missed him too. Thor asked if he looked to be "in a gaming mood," and that made Phantom raise an eyebrow at his old English. Loki then said that Thor should have been happy that the Bifrost was gone, and that made Phantom question these two even more than she did before. As Loki struggled to get up, Thor helped him, but at first, it seemed to be threatening. However, when Thor saw Loki, his eyes went soft. When Thor said, "I thought you dead," Phantom fully understood what Loki meant to Thor. Loki asked if he mourned and Thor told him that his whole family did and when Thor said, "Our father," and Loki countered, "Your father." Loki talked of his true lineage and Thor countered that they were raised together, they played together, they fought together, and if Loki remembered any of it. Loki said he remembered the shade of Thor's greatness, Thor tossing him into an abyss, and how he should have been a king. Phantom then understood why these two had their strains. Loki and Thor had "father issues." Thor probably was an heir while Loki got pushed to the side, because of his true bloodline, causing him to act out, but why to this extreme Phantom couldn't wrap her finger around. Phantom felt a twinge of jealousy towards Loki in that moment, but chose to suppress her feelings and let the men work this out themselves. Thor then thought that Loki was trying to obtain the Earth because of Thor's deep love of it and then proclaimed that it was under his protection. Loki mocked Thor with his power over the Earth. Loki then looked over to Phantom standing away from them and stated, "The humans slaughter each other in droves while you idly fret. I mean to rule them, as why should I not?" He turned his direction back to Thor and Thor rebutted challengingly, "You think yourself above them?" Loki then answered swiftly, "Well, yes." Phantom immediately gripped down on her scythe, because Loki was dangerously reminding her of someone she hated long ago. "Then you miss the truth of ruling, brother. A throne would suit you ill," Thor tried to warn Loki the dangers of ruling and Loki looked offended by what Thor proposed. Loki pushed Thor away, walked up to the edge of the cliff, and announced, "I've seen worlds you've never known about! I have grown, Odinson, in my exile. I have seen the true power of the Tesseract, and when I wield it…" Thor interrupted, "Who showed you this power? Who controls the would-be king?" Loki then yelled like a child that he was a king and Thor grabbed him by his upper arms and demanded, "Not here! You give up the Tesseract! You give up this poisonous dream!"

Thor then went soft and begged Loki while gently holding the back of his as ancient civilizations did to show a bond of warriors, "You come home." Loki then replied cold heartedly "I don't have it." Phantom then lost it. She appeared behind Loki, grabbed him, threw him to the ground, and had her scythe against his throat while proclaiming, "You are a spoiled brat who cannot see the love and joy you bring to others. That love and joy is your home, not a kingdom you rule, you complete and utter dumbass." Thor then summoned his hammer to his side as Loki stated, "You need the Cube to send me home, but I've sent it off, I know not where." Phantom read his eyes and stated coldly to the deserving man, "Bullshit. You wouldn't send off your most powerful weapon without the knowledge of where it was going. I'm not stupid, Loki." Thor then raised up his hammer and stated, "You listen well, brother." Before he could finish his statement, Stark crashed into him and sent them off into the forest below. "I'm listening," Loki responded to no one. Phantom pushed her scythe down on his throat causing a little blood to spill, and said, "Shut it. You're down speaking for now."

Phantom glanced down to the men who were about to fight each other and she just sighed with an annoyed strain in her tone. Thor threatened Stark, "Do not touch me again." Stark, like the overgrown child he was, threatened back, "Then don't take my stuff." When Thor tried to explain to Stark that he didn't know what he was dealing with, Stark looked back up to Phantom and back to Thor. His immediate tease was, "Ugh, Shakespeare in the Park? Doth Mother know you wear-eth her drapes?" Phantom, being at the age she was, snorted at the comment, trying her hardest not to laugh. She knew it was unprofessional, but she couldn't help it. The man knew how to make her laugh, and she noticed that it made Stark smirk. When Thor told Stark that what was happening was beyond him and that Loki will face Asgardian justice, Stark replied, "He gives up the Cube, he's all yours. Until then," his face mask went down, "stay out of the way." Stark then muttered, "Tourist," and that caused another snort to come from Phantom. Thor then, with his patience at its limit, threw his hammer at Iron Man, causing him to ruin a couple of innocent trees. Thor looked up to Phantom and Loki who were both in their same positions watching them go at it. While Thor spun his hammer, Iron Man shot out a blaster at Thor causing him to stumble back. Iron Man took advantage of Thor's stumble and kicked him back into more trees that were innocent.

When Phantom glanced down to see Loki getting too comfy, she grabbed her heavy duty handcuffs and latched them on tightly to Loki's wrist to cause him some pain. She then put a tiny explosive on the cuffs and explained, "You try to remove these, that bomb is going off. It's small enough to blow off your hands, but not kill you, unfortunately. Only I can take them off, and if you get too far from me that will also set them off. So don't even think of running." She pushed him to the ground and continued to watch the fight play out before her. She knew Thor shot lightning at Iron Man, and Iron Man returned the favor by shooting the energy back to Thor. Both the men then flew to each other, Iron Man, having more energy in the momentum, sent them off in his direction. They flew back after they reached a mountain and that's when Phantom saw Captain parachute down to her. "Where are they," he asked as he landed. Phantom pointed at Loki first while stating, "Loki is unable to flee due to the bomb I strapped to his cuffs and Iron Man is fighting off Thor right now down that way." She point to where the men who were holding their arms to each other. She saw Iron Man head-butted Thor and Thor returned the gesture causing Iron Man to fly back a bit. When Iron Man landed, he flew back towards Thor and threw him into a dead tree. While that was happening, Captain was struggling to take off his parachute backpack, so Phantom calmed him down and helped him slowly take it off while the two men fought below.

When she finished, Captain thanked her quickly, jumped down, and threw his shield at Thor, hitting his head, then bouncing off to hit Iron Man in his jaw, and return back to him while yelling, "HEY!" Captain strapped it back on and stated proudly, "That's enough." He jumped from his position to the tired looking two men. "Now, I don't know what you plan on doing here-" Captain began. "I've come here to put an end to Loki's schemes," Thor replied angrily. Captain then challenge, "Then prove it. Put that hammer down." Phantom raised her eyebrow again at the boldness of Captain America, and then Stark proclaimed like a taunting teenager, "Ugh, Yeah…no. Bad call. He loves his hammer." Thor then swung it at Stark to send him flying, while Phantom shook her head at the grown man. Thor, at his breaking point, yelled at Cap, "YOU WANT ME TO PUT THE HAMMER DOWN?!" He jumped up to strike Captain, while Captain went to his kneeling protection stance, and when the hammer met the shield, it caused the clash-wave to wipe out part of the forest. After all three men stood up, Captain asked tired, "Are we done, here?" Thor looking around, slowly nodded his head.

* * *

The three then waited for Natasha to show up, then she picked them up, while Phantom, with a gun in my hand pointed at Loki, pushed him onto the ship and said, "No more tricks." They had a steady ride back to the flying S.H.I.E.L.D quarters. When they arrive a squad of S.H.I.E.L.D agents were there and ready to take back Loki. Phantom walked over to him before they took off, and removed the bomb carefully. Loki teased her as she did that, "Oh, you do care." She then tightened the cuffs even more and responded, "I told Thor I wasn't going to kill you." She then turned her back to Loki who said with a creepy knowing tone, "I'll see you, later. Phantom." Phantom walked back to the commanding quarters and chose to just relax until the others arrived and wanted to talk about Loki. When everyone arrived, Natasha turned on the camera that showed Loki within a cell as Fury was talking to him. "In case it's unclear, if you try to escape, you so much as scratch that glass," Fury began as he opened up the bottom door under the caged threatening. Loki looked ever the side to see the final drop. "30,000 FEET STRAIGHT DOWN IN A STEEL TRAP! YOU GET HOW THAT WORKS?!" Fury asked while closing the door. He motioned to Loki then the computer while explaining, "Ant, boot." Loki then laughed at Fury's threat, while stating, "It's an impressive cage. Not built, I think, for me." Fury then explain threateningly, "Built for something a lot stronger than you." Loki then smirked and looked to our camera and said, "Oh, I've heard. A mindless beast. Makes play he's still a man." Natasha looked up cautiously at Dr. Banner. How only nodded, knowing of his situation. "How desperate are you," Loki began. "you call on such lost creatures and children to defend you?" Phantom, who was only looking down the entire time, glanced up with hatred in her eyes. Captain noticed the look in her eyes, and knew that Loki had just offended her. "How desperate am I?" Fury requisitioned. "You threaten my world with war. You steal a force you can't hope to control. You talk about peace, and you kill because it's fun. You have made me very desperate. You might not be glad that you did." Loki then mocked Fury, "It burns you to have come so close. To have the Tesseract, to have power, unlimited power. And for what? A warm light for all mankind to share? And then to be reminded what real power is." Fury said nothing, but, "Let me know if real power wants a magazine or something."

Phantom being fed up with everything, grabbed her gun, and shot at the little projector. Everyone jumped when she did that but her eyes with closed with irritation and she let out an irritated sigh. Dr. Banner, trying to lighten the mood, asked, "He really grows on you, doesn't he?" Captain not wanting to add light to the situation stated, "Loki's gonna drag this out. So, Thor, what's his play?" Thor asked with deep thought in his mind, "He has an army called the Chitauri. They're not of Asgard, nor any world known. He means to lead them against your people. They will win him the Earth, in return, I suspect, for the Tesseract." Phantom then piped in, "So an alien army?" Banner then asked the scientific question, "So, he's building another portal. That's what he need Erik Selvig for." Thor then asked, "Selvig?" Banner answered, "He's an astrophysicist." Thor not knowing what that means stated, "He's a friend." Natasha then began to explain the situation by saying the Loki had him under a spell along with one of the S.H.I.E.L.D agents. "Barton?" Phantom asked Natasha. Natasha showed her weakness in her eyes and nodded. "I want to know why Loki let us take him. He's not leading an army from here," Captain questioned. "He's infiltrating enemy lines. He allowed us to take him to get our coordinates and information. Why? That is something I haven't reasoned yet," Phantom answered Steven. He looked at her with a surprised look on his face. "For someone so young, she is really insightful," Steve thought to himself.

"I don't think we should be focusing on Loki. That guy's brain is a bag full of cats. You can smell crazy on him," Dr. Banner stated with caution. Thor stepped up and defended, "Have care how you speak. Loki is beyond reason, but he is of Asgard, and he is my brother." Natasha then pointed out blantly, "He killed 80 people in two days." Thor then thought of an excuse for a second and replied, "He's adopted." Phantom then stated emotionlessly sarcastically, "Oh yeah. Being adopted is a total legit reason for killing people. You know what maybe I'm adopted 'cause I kill people for a living?" "Then again, she is still young," Steve thought to himself. Banner being the voice of reason, brought the conversation back and asked, "I think it is about the mechanics. Iridium… What do they need the iridium for?"

"It's a stabilizing agent," a voice boomed while entering the room. Stark then addressed Coulson on a private matter while walking in. He continued to answer, "It means the portal won't collapse on itself like it did at S.H.I.E.L.D." He walked up to Thor and began to say in a cocky caring matter while patting Thor's bicep, "No hard feelings, Point Break. You've got a mean swing." He glanced over to Phantom who had a smile underneath her black mask, and so he continued, "Also, it means the portal can open as wide and stay as open as long as Loki wants. Raise the mizzenmast. Jib the topsails." All the agents working at their stations looked up at him and Tony pointed out, "THAT MAN IS PLAYING GALAGA! Thought we wouldn't notice, but we did." Phantom then began to start laughing at the billionaires antics, and Steve watched as she continued to laugh. Tony then covered his left eye and asked, "How does Fury even see these?" Hill answered that he turns and Tony's reaction was, "Sounds exhausting." Phantom was being to die at the man before her. Tony hid his little smile and continued fiddling with the screens, "The rest of the raw materials, Agent Barton can get his hands on pretty easily. The only major component he still needs is a power source of high-energy density. Something to kick-start the Cube." Phantom then noticed that Tony slipped a little hacking sticker on Fury's computer. She inwardly smirk at her chance to get the information she needed. Hill asked he became an expert in thermonuclear astrophysics and he rebutted cockily, "Last night." He then asked, "The packet, Selvig's notes, the extraction theory papers. Am I the only one who did the reading?" Steve, being a little short fused towards this man, asked, "Does Loki need any particular kind of power source?" Banner then answered, "He would have to heat the Cube to 120-million Kelvin just to break through the Coulomb barrier." Stark questioned, "Unless Selvig has figured out how to stabilize the quantum tunneling effect." Phantom chimed in, "Well, if he could do that, he could achieve heavy ion fusion at any reactor on the planet." Stark then stated while gesturing to Banner and Phantom, "Finally, people who speak English." Steve being completely lost at the conversation, "Is that what just happened?" Phantom turned to him and responded, "No. That was what we call a nerd moment."

Stark went up to Banner, shook his hand, and stated, "It's good to meet you, Dr. Banner. Your work on antielectron collisions is unparalleled. And I'm a huge fan of the way you lose control and turn into an enormous green rage-monster." Banner feeling uncomfortable, responded, "Thanks." Phantom piped up, "Oh, Dr. Banner. I am fan of your research of gamma infused mutation." Banner looked shocked by that and stated, "That really wasn't my research, but thank you." Fury walked in and stated, "Dr. Banner is only here to track the Cube. I was hoping you might join him." Phantom raised her hand and asked, "If it's alright with you Fury, I would also like to help in locating the Cube." Fury nodded his head at the bold request. "I would start with that stick of his. It may be magical, but it works an awful lot like a HYDRA weapon," Steve suggested looking at Phantom. "I know of HYDRA. I need someone in their ranks for some questioning," Phantom thought only to herself. "I don't know about that, but it is powered by the Cube. And I would like to know how Loki used it to turn two of the sharpest men I know into his personal flying monkeys," Fury questioned angrily. Thor, with no knowledge of one of the greatest film in history, questioned adorably, "Monkeys? I do not understand." Steve, remembering the film, pointed and shouted, "I do." When everyone except Stark looked at Steve, he explained, "I understood that reference." Phantom just watching the scene, was holding back her urge to yell aww at the two buff men who acted like something cute in that moment. "Oh wow, that was so adorable! Thor looked like a lost puppy and Rogers looked like a child who achieved something," Phantom thought to herself while holding the area of where her mouth was through the mask like she was only leaning on it. Stark turned to Banner and questioned, "Shall we play, Doctor?" Phantom stood up from her seat, and Steve happened to notice that she wore a similar outfit as she did yesterday. Banner motioned to the direction and said, "This way, sir." Phantom said quietly to the men, "You both go ahead, I want to see something real quick." Phantom looked over to where Stark pointed a moment ago and she saw an agent go back to playing Galaga, and she started to laugh heartily while stating, "Oh my god." She then turned around and walked back and Steve watched her as she left.

* * *

When she got to the lab, the two men were preparing to start their work. Phantom walked up, jumped, sat on the counter, pulled out her notepad, and began to write some theories about the connections of the Tesseract and Loki's scepter. When she did that, Stark looked over to her and asked, "I'm sorry, but do you have an IQ high enough to be here?" She looked up to him with a challenged look in her eyes and stated with a little challenge in her emotionless voice, "My IQ is high enough to know how the Iron Man suit works, I understood and excelled Selvig's notes, and I know the little research projects that Dr. Banner did for the FBI during the eighties while he was in college." Banner turned towards the young girl and said, "How exactly do you know about those?" She looked over to him and stated, "I knew someone who was one of the leads of those research programs." Stark then sauntered over to the girl and stated, "I'm sure the pleasure is yours, I'm Tony Stark, also known as Iron Man." He extended his hand to hers, she took it, shook it, while stating, "It's really not, but it is nice to meet you, Mr. Stark. The name's Phantom, or call me what you like. Everyone knows you're going to either way." He smirked at her, "Got a profile?" She shook her head while smirking back at him, "No, my skills on the battlefield are only things you need to know about me." He then thought of what she said and asked, "You're a mercenary?" She only glanced up to him and stated, "I come from a Guild of mercenaries. I was hired to get the Cube, then I'm gone. End of story." She then went over to one of the free computers and began to use her advance connections to see if anyone was harboring fugitives. "So does mask of yours ever come off?" Tony asked her with curiosity. She shook her head, "No it does not. I keep them on at all times. I put a clean one on everyday and I change it three times a day. First in the morning, then eight hours later, and then before only time I do not wear it, is when I take a shower, which is when I put another clean one on after." Tony was still curious and asked, "Any particular reason why?" She was silent for a moment, "It's a long and personal story that I never tell, so yes, but I won't tell you." Tony wanting to know, chose to look into it after he hacked into the S.H.I.E.L.D. secret files.

While working Banner focused on the staff and stated, "The gamma readings are definitely consistent with Selvig's reports of the Tesseract, but it's going to take weeks to process." Phantom walked up and read the readings while stating, "Yes but the power focuses more at the sphere at the top and then run down like a power chord. Plus this one has a slightly lower frequency than the Tesseract did, according to Selvig. It's only by points thousandths, but that might have some significance." Stark than stated what Phantom wanted to hear, "If we bypass their mainframe, and direct route to the Homer cluster, we can clock this at around 600 teraflops." Phantom walked back over to her computer and began to hack into Stark's computer with her coding skills. "All I packed was a toothbrush," Banner told Stark kiddingly. "Well I have some USB drives with calibrators, quantitative algorithms, martial arts tutorials, and videos containing lab experimentations, if either you need any of them. I also have lots of food and energy drinks. Oh, I also have lots of weapons," Phantom told the two men pointing to her backpack. Stark laughed at the two people and responded, "You know, you two should come by Stark Tower sometime. Top tens floors, all R&D. You'd love it. It's Candy Land." Phantom just laughed while Banner replied, "Thanks, but the last time I was in New York, I kind of broke Harlem."

Stark then walked behind Banner and said, "Well, I promise a stress-free environment." Phantom looked at the man with incredulous look in her eyes as he continued, "No tension, no surprises." Then Tony shocked Bruce in the side with a tiny zapper which Banner replied with ow and turned to Tony who was looking for a slight trace of Hulk. Phantom knew that it was not happening began to laugh at Tony's antics. Steve, seeing what Tony tried to do, yelled, "HEY!" Tony being upset by no reaction questioned, "Nothing?" Steve walked in and asked the billionaire, "Are you nuts?" The man in question replied, "Jurys out." Phantom snorted and commented nonchalantly, "Oh, we all know you are guilty, Stark." That caused Bruce to laugh and Tony returned his attention to Bruce and asked, "You really have got a lid on it, haven't you? What's your secret? Mellow jazz, bongo drums, huge bag of weed?" Phantom piped up emotionlessly joking, "Oh I have some of that in my bag as well." Stark looked at her with a joking smile, Banner didn't pay any attention, and Steve gave her an incredulous look and turned back to his culprit and ask the jokesters, "Is everything a joke to you?" Stark immediately replied while pointing at Rogers, "Funny things are." Phantom snorted at Tony's answer. Steve then said in a strict tone to both of them, "Threatening the safety of everyone on this ship isn't funny. No offence, Doc." Phantom then walked over and put her hand on Captains left bicep gently, "Cap, I think the man has it under control. He was in a third world country and managed to not turn once. I think he'll be okay." Banner added, "It's all right, I wouldn't have come aboard if I couldn't handle pointy things."

Tony being to the diva he was shared his opinion on Banners powers, "You're tip-toeing, big man. You need to strut." Steve, growing inpatient at Tony, replied, "And you need to focus on the problem, Mr. Stark." Tony not happy with Steve's tone countered, "Do you think I'm not? Why did Fury call us in? Why now? Why not before? What isn't he telling us? I can't do the equation unless I have all the variables." Steve believing what Tony was insinuating, "You think Fury's hiding something?" Phantom interrupted, "Cap, I work for Fury. I've work against Fury. Fury is a spy. We all have secrets, but spies can hold them out until their bitter ends." Tony added, "He's a spy. Captain, he's "the" spy. His spies have secrets. It's bugging them too, isn't it." He gestured to Phantom and Banner. Banner looked lost by being put into it, but Phantom said nothing. Banner tried to get the attention off of him by saying, "I just want to finish my work here, and…" Steve not being satisfied by Banner attempted questioned, "Doctor?" Bruce, finally deciding to give in quoted, ""A warm light for all mankind." Loki's jab at Fury about the Cube." Captain told him that he heard it. "Well I think that was meant for you," Bruce pointed to Tony, who in returned offered him a blueberry. As Bruce continued his speech, Tony turned the bag of blueberries over to Phantom, who sat on the table where the scepter was and refused, "Even if Barton didn't tell Loki about the tower, it was still all over the news." Steve knowing what it was, questioned, "The Stark Tower? That big, ugly…" he stopped his speech when Tony gave him a "watch it" kind of look, while Phantom only nodded her head. "Building in New York." Phantom decided to add, "It's powered by an arc reactor, a self-sustaining energy source. That building will run itself for, what, a year?" Stark relied instantly, "It's just the prototype. I'm kind of the only name in clean energy right now. That's what they're getting at."

Captain looked a little lost so Bruce connected the dots for him, "So, why didn't S.H.I.E.L.D bring him in on the Tesseract Project? What are they doing in the energy business in the first place?" Tony finally admitting to his plan, "I should probably look into that once my decryption program finishes breaking into all of S.H.I.E.L.D's secure files. Steve, understanding what Tony just said, questioned, "I'm sorry, did you just…" Tony cut him off by stating, "Jarvis has been running it since I hit the bridge. In a few hours, I'll know every dirty secret S.H.I.E.L.D has ever tried to hide. Blueberry?" Tony extended the bag out to Rogers, who kept his focus on the issue that Tony stated, "Yet you're confused about why they didn't want you around." Tony then questioned, "An intelligence organization that fears intelligence? Historically, not awesome." Steve then said what his thoughts were, "I think Loki's trying to wind us up. This is a man who means to start a war, and if we don't stay focused, he'll succeed. We have orders. We should follow them." Tony, being the defiant child he was, claimed while plopping in a blueberry, "Following's not really my style." Captain, finally thinking he had Tony figured out, claimed, "And you're all about style, aren't you?" Tony taken the jab, decided to fire back, "Of the people in this room, which one is, A, wearing a spangly outfit, and B, not of use?" When Phantom saw the fire ignite in Steve's eyes, she got in between the two men and stated, "That's enough, both of you. Rogers, I agree Stark's going too far, but he is right in sense. S.H.I.E.L.D is hiding something, bigger than what they are letting on. Stark, I will agree that S.H.I.E.L.D is doing something different from claiming pure energy, but don't attack Rogers because of your own personal issues. We all have jobs to do and whatever we do at the side or whatever we think is our own personal business. We have to work together, so let's just attempt to get along, alright?" Steve still looking at Tony with fire in his eyes, Bruce sensing the tension, questioned, "Steve, tell me none of this smells a little funky to you." Sensing himself being outnumber, Steve decided to leave while stating to the three, "Just find the Cube."

Letting out a deep side Phantom turned to Tony, "Was that completely necessary?" Tony ignoring her, questioned, "That's the guy my dad never shut up about? I'm wondering if they shouldn't have kept him on ice." Bruce, not wanting to play favorites, replied, "The guy's not wrong about Loki. He does have the jump on us." Tony, trying to be funny, claimed, "What he's got is an Acme dynamite kit." He turned to Phantom before continuing, "You might not know what that is due to your age. It's going to blow up in his face. And I'm going to be there when it does." Phantom, not liking what Tony insinuated, walked past him while stepping hard down on his foot, over to her work computer causing him to flinch, "Ow." Bruce smiling at the two stated, "Yeah. I'll read all about it." Tony not liking what Bruce just stated argued, "Or you'll be suiting up with the rest of us." Bruce, being the scared pacifist, stated, "You see, I don't get a suit of armor. I'm exposed. Like a nerve. It's a nightmare." Phantom feeling sympathy for the once courageous man stated, "And like a nerve, it is vital. Without it, the soul wouldn't feel anything." Tony smiled at that analogy continued, "I've got a cluster of shrapnel trying every second to crawl its way into my heart. This stops it. This little circle of light, it's a part of me now, not just armor. It's a terrible privilege." Bruce tried to argue, "But you can control it." Phantom piped in her opinion, "So can you. You haven't change in a long time. I have something I couldn't control, I can pretty much now, but ask me about two years ago, I couldn't. It's all about self-pride, training, and patience." Bruce tried to say that it was different and Tony then said his peace on Banner, "Hey, I read all about your accident. That much gamma exposure should have killed you." Bruce trying to understand what Tony was insinuating questioned, "So you're saying that the Hulk… the other guy, saved my life? That's nice. It's a nice sentiment. Saved it for what?" Tony liking to see his dots connecting replied, "I guess we'll find out." Bruce tried to warn Tony, "You may not enjoy that," but Tony argued, "And you just might."

After that the two men went back to their stations, and Phantom walked over to Tony. "Hey Stark. I have a favor to ask." Tony looking at Phantom skeptically, nodded his head, and she continued, "I need a copy of those S.H.I.E.L.D files. That's the near true reason of my being here. I saw the you place the encryption, and I've kept quiet until now. My Master wants those files, and frankly so do I." Tony thinking about the situation replied, "I'll give them to you, if you tell me your real age, and I get a name." Phantom narrowed her eyes and bargained, "You get part of my name, and I'll give you an estimate of years." Tony thinking about the answer, countered, "I get first and middle, with the estimate." Phantom sensing that the man wouldn't quit stated, "I'll give middle, birth region, and estimate." Tony's eyes then lit up and extended his hand and stated, "Deal." Phantom shook his hand, gave him an empty flash drive, and stated, "Once that flash drive has the S.H.I.E.L.D secure files, you'll get your info." Then a telephone started to ring from Phantom's backpack. She excused herself and answered it without saying a word. After a voice said "info," she asked a riddle, "When I'm used, I'm useless, once offered, soon rejected. In desperation often expressed, the intended not protected. What am I?" The person then replied, "A poor alibi or excuse." Phantom then physically relaxed and questioned, "Okay, what information do you have for me?" The person then went into a detailed description of what they saw, and said that it was in New York, but nothing else. Phantom thanked the person and hung up the phone. She then went over to her tracking model and began to do a wide spread search over the entire state of New York. "A lead just told me that an energy surged happened somewhere in the state of New York. I'm running a massive search to see where it was, but it might just be Stark Tower."

* * *

Then Phantom walked over to the projector and looked up Loki's cell and saw that Romanoff went to speak to him. She heard Natasha asked, "I want to know what you've done to Agent Barton." Loki replied with a sense of calm, "I would say that I've expanded his mind." Natasha, who was not buying it, continued her interrogation, "And once you've won, once you're king of the mountain, what happens to his mind?" Loki suspecting something from Natasha questioned, "Is this love, Agent Romanoff?" Phantom reached up to her com, and stated, "Romanoff, ask about Freya, Loki's mother." Romanoff played it off by stating, "Love is for children. I owe him a debt. Was it love for you with your mother, Freya?" Loki's eyebrow then twitched with annoyance. "Gotcha," Phantom whispered to herself. "So, you care about Freya, yet you deny Odin?" Phantom asked on her com, and Natasha repeated. Loki just stared ahead with annoyance on his face and said, "You know nothing." Phantom knowing everything countered, "I know you feared Thor's shadow. I know you hated Odin for overlooking your clear brilliance. I know Freya took you in and taught you in the ways of magic, while Odin focused on Thor with combat. You knew you were more brilliant one, yet to not be chosen. It hurt, because you knew Freya would have chosen you, if not for Odin." Natasha repeated it with more emotion in her voice than Phantom did. Loki then looking pissed off said, "And what exactly would you know of familial loyalty?" Phantom then stated, "It wasn't familial loyalty that betrayed you. It was your own hope and love that did, wasn't it?" Natasha repeated and Loki looked even more angered by that question, stopped for a moment and noticed something about that information. He then took a step back looked to the camera and stated, "Well done, Phantom. You truly have a gift for insight, but now I want to Romanoff alone," and then the camera shut down. Phantom banged her fist on the table, knowing that she almost had him. Him and Natasha began conversation with Natasha telling him how she met Barton. She made it seem like she loved him to get Loki to see that his assumption was right, luring him into her web of deception. Phantom then heard beeping from Tony's screen and saw the access denied on the screen and he just swiped it out. She knew that Fury probably found out what he was trying to do and would come any second. She then heard on her com from Natasha, "Loki means to unleash the Hulk. Keep Banner in the lab. I'm on my way." Phantom then stated alright to Natasha and went over to Bruce. "Banner, I don't mean to alarm you, but I need you to stay here in the lab, okay. I promise, everything is going to be okay," Phantom told Bruce with a little care in her voice.

Fury then walked into the lab and questioned Tony, "What are you doing, Mr. Stark?" Tony was fed up keeping it all hidden questioned, "Kind of been wondering the same thing about you." Fury then tried to order him, "You're supposed to be locating the Tesseract." Bruce then began to state his mind as well, "We are. The model's locked and we're sweeping for the signature now. When we get a hit we'll have the location within half a mile." Tony then began to enter again, "Yeah, then you get your Cube back. No muss, no fuss. What is Phase 2?" Steve then walked in and place a giant gun on Phantom's work table, while proclaiming, "Phase 2 is S.H.I.E.L.D uses the Cube to make weapons. Sorry, computer was moving a little slow for me." Then Fury tried to calm the situation down by stating, "Rogers, we gathered everything related to the Tesseract. This does not mean that we're making…" Then Tony turned his computer screen around to show Fury that he had the detail, "I'm sorry, Nick. What were you lying?" Steve now seeing the deception before his very eyes stated, "I was wrong, Director. The world hasn't changed a bit."

Bruce then turned to Natasha and asked, "Did you know about this?" Natasha not wanting to make Bruce any angrier suggested, "You want to think about removing yourself from this environment, Doctor?" Phantom then raised her hand to Natasha while stating with a little threat laced in her voice, "Don't, Romanoff. You'll only make it worse. Dr. Banner, I need you to relax. Remember what we talked about?" Bruce then calmed himself down a bit told Natasha, "I was in Calcutta. I was pretty well removed." Natasha then stepped forward and stated, "Loki is manipulating you." Phantom pulled out her gun, pointed it at Romanoff, and stated, "And you have been doing the same. Not another word, Romanoff. Back. Off." Bruce walked over to the computer and stated, "I'd like to know why S.H.I.E.L.D is using the Tesseract to build weapons of mass destruction." Fury, deciding not to lie anymore stated while pointing at Thor, "Because of him."

Poor Thor not knowing what he did made him question why it was his fault. Fury explained, "Last year, Earth had a visitor from another planet who had a grudge match that leveled a small town. We learned that not only are we not alone but we are hopelessly, hilariously, outgunned." Thor then entered his opinion, "My people want nothing, but peace with your planet." Fury then argued, "But you're not the only people out there, are you? And you're not the only threat. The world's filling up with people who can't be matched, that can't be controlled." Steve then questioned, "Like you controlled the Cube?" Phantom putting the pieces together, "So you build massive weapons of destruction to solve the problem like World War II, and are using fear and assumptions to base this brilliant idea. You could have reached out to others. You have a special task force. I know you do, because they helped you in the seventies! What about all of us here now? Why couldn't we handle the situation rather than the Tesseract, or do you fear that we won't always follow your orders?" Fury glared at Phantom, and tried to state his case, but Thor interrupted him, "Your work with the Tesseract is what drew Loki to it, and his allies. It is a signal to all the realms that the Earth is ready for a higher form of war." Steve not liking where this was going questioned, "A higher form?" Fury then stated, "You forced our hand. We had to come up with something." Tony then recapped what Phantom stated, "A nuclear deterrent. Because that always calms everything right down." Fury took his jab at Tony, "Remind me again how you made your fortune, Stark." Steve then added his opinion, "I'm sure if he still made weapons, Stark would be neck-deep…" Tony interrupted this thought process, "Wait, wait, wait. Hold on. How is this now about me?" Steve then taunted, "I'm sorry, isn't everything?" Thor going back to Fury stated, "I thought humans were more evolved than this." Fury not backing down, fired back, "Excuse me, did we come to your planet and blow stuff up?" Thor then spoke his opinion, "You treat your champions with such mistrust." Natasha, trying to stick up for S.H.I.E.L.D, stated, "Are you boys really that naïve? S.H.I.E.L.D monitors potential threats." Bruce then questioned, "Captain America's on threat watch?" Natasha answered, "We all are." Catching Tony's attention he then questioned to Steve, "Wait, you're on that list? Are you above or below angry bees?" Steve getting angry stated, "Stark, so help me God, if you make one more wisecrack…" Tony then alerted, "Threat! Verbal threat. I feel threatened." Steve then stated, "Show some respect." Tony, going to his rebellious side, questioned, "Respect what?" Then Phantoms monitor began to ring off the charts, but she couldn't hear due to all the arguing going on.

Thor stating his opinion once more, "You speak of control, yet you court chaos." Bruce then stated, "That's his M.O., isn't it? I mean, what are we, a team? No, no, no, we're a chemical mixture that makes chaos. We're a time bomb." Fury feeling threatened tried to step towards Bruce, but Phantom got in front of him with her gun still pointed at Natasha, "You need to step away." Tony then asked while placing his hand on Steve's shoulder, "Why shouldn't the guy let off a little steam?" Steve pushed it off and replied, "You know damn well why. Back off!" Sensing a fight, Phantom put her gun away and went over to Tony and Steve before a fight broke out. "I'm starting to want you to make me," Tony threatened as he glared at Steve. Steve walked around Tony, as if he was evaluating him, stated, "Yeah. Big man in a suit of armor. Take that off, what are you?" Tony responded quickly, "Genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist." Steve still glaring stated, "I know guys with none of that worth ten of you. I've seen the footage. The only thing you really fight for is yourself. You're not the guy to make the sacrifice play, to lay down on a wire and let the other guy crawl over you." Tony argued, "I think I would just cut the wire." Steve then smirk, as if he made his point, "You may not be a threat, but you better stop pretending to be a hero." Tony got offended and questioned while getting into Steve's face, "A hero? Like you? You're a laboratory experiment, Rogers. Everything special about you came out of a bottle." Phantom got in between them trying to push them both part. Due to her height, it looked extremely difficult, with her only being about five feet compared to two men who were over 5'9". With Tony, it was easy, Steve, a tad harder, "Enough, enough! Arguing won't get us anywhere. We need the Cube, that's it. No more." Steve, not paying attention to Phantom stated, "Put on the suit. Lets go a few rounds." Thor laughed and mocked the three, "You people are so petty and tiny."

When Fury tried to have Romanoff take Bruce somewhere else, Bruce got irritated and stated, "Where? You rented my room." Fury trying to explain the cell, but was interrupted by Bruce's assumptions, "In case you needed to kill me. But you can't. I know, I tried." Phantom then turned over to Bruce and had a slight glimpse of sadness and empathy. "I got low. I didn't see an end. So, I put a bullet in my mouth, and the other guy spit it out. So I moved on. I focused on helping other people. I was good. Until you dragged me back into this freak show and put everyone here at risk. You want to know my secret, Agent Romanoff? You want to know how I stay calm?" After Phantom saw Bruce grab the scepter and Fury and Natasha grab their guns, Phantom went up to Bruce. She held both sides of his face and made him look down at her. "Bruce, I need you calm down, and put the scepter down, okay. You're safe, you're not injured, and we don't need the big guy, okay," Phantom stated calm and slowly to get to Bruce. When Bruce looked down to her azure eyes that had a hint of gold circling her pupil, he didn't see the dullness that they usually bore, but rather the emotion of worry for a friend. He's seen those eyes before, but on a different person and they made him feel warm and safe. When he looked down to his side, he realized he had the scepter within his hand. Phantom took the scepter from him slowly and put it back to where it was. After she did that, she looked at him and asked, "Are you okay, Dr. Banner?" He only nodded his head and then one of the computers went off. Bruce went over to check the computer while Phantom walked over to Steve and Tony, to make sure that they would start another fight. Everyone then began to fight about who was going to go get it except for Phantom, who wanted to remain calm for Bruce's sake. When Tony and Steve got into each other's faces again, Phantom got in the middle and tried to push them apart once more. Bruce then stated, "Oh my god," and the room erupted in fire.

* * *

When Phantom, Tony, and Steve recovered from the shock they all agreed to put on their suits. Phantom ran to her room and grabbed her trench coat filled with weaponry and her scythe. Phantom heard on the intercom that the engine needed to be repaired, so Fury then asked, "Phantom, Stark, you both copy that?" They both answered it at the same time, "I'm on it." Phantom was one of the first to arrive on the recently shot open engine three area. She looked down to see Captain arrive, "CAP!" He looked up to see her trying to make little repairs to the navigation system. When Tony arrive, he began to speak through her come to himself, "I got to get this superconducting coolant system back online before I can access the rotors, work on dislodging the debris." He looked at Rogers and said, "I need you to get to that engine control panel and tell me which relays are in overload position." Phantom, knowing that Steve wouldn't know what anything of the caliber, finished the navigation system and swung over to Cap who was confused as he opened the panel. When Stark asked what it looked like, Steve replied that it seemed to have run on some form of electricity. Phantom then nicely pushed him out of the way and stated, "I got this, I need you to watch, in case of another attack." Steve watched her as she worked on the panel and saw that there was a whiteness in her azure eyes that surrounded the pupil, almost as if it was making her eyes glow. She worked by disconnecting some of the lines and attaching them somewhere, trying to get rid of the red lights flashing. When she finished, she nodded at Steve, who informed Tony that the relays were intact. When Steve asked what the next move was, Tony explained how he needed to push it to start. Steve contradicted what Tony said, by stating that it might tear him to shreds, but Tony told him that the scientific use of the lever that could slow down the rotors. Steve couldn't understand so he yelled, "SPEAK ENGLISH!" Phantom grabbed his shoulder and pointed to him a red lever, "You see that? Pull it down once Stark gives the word and it will slow the rotors down enough, so he can get out without being shredded." Steve nodded and then Phantom thought of something, "ROGERS! I NEED YOU TO STAY HERE AND HELP STARK! I'M GONNA HEAD TO LOKI'S CELL!" Then Phantom took off running into the ship.

* * *

When Phantom showed up, she saw Loki stab Coulson in the back. "NO!" Thor yelled from inside of the cage. She then ran up and engaged another spear/scythe combat with Loki. When she got to the other side with Coulson near, her eyes slightly changed to gray, and Loki lost his footing and she kicked him to the other side near the control panel. When she saw that Loki was going to push the button to send Thor to the ground, she tried to get to it as fast as she could but Loki pushed the button, one millisecond early. She ran to the railing, yelled, "THOR!" and saw him plummet down to his demise. She turned to Loki who had no expression and her eyes went immediately red. She shouted, "YOU MONSTER!" as she ran up to go another round with the god. Her speed increased greatly and her attacks were more fierce and determined than before, but her form was sloppy. It gave her too many openings and when Loki saw his chance he hit her back over to Coulson. Before she got up to fight again, Coulson told Loki, "You're going to lose." Loki being a little surprise, asked, "Am I?" Coulson explained, "It's in your nature." Loki began to taunt the dying man by saying, "Your heroes are scattered. Your floating fortress falls from the sky. Where is my disadvantage?" Coulson then stated, "You lack conviction." Loki tried to contradict, but was shot back by Coulson's weapon. "So, that's what it does," Coulson thought aloud. "COULSON!" Phantom yelled as she kneeled down to him. She looked at his injury, pulled out a bottle of water, and her azure eyes began to glow as she pour the water onto her hands over Coulson's injury. The water stuck to her hands while little droplets fell onto his back, and once she place her hands on the injury, the water from her hands began to stitch up the tissue slowly from the inside. "I can heal you, but not as much as I usually can. Just hold on, Coulson," Phantom said while concentrating. After healing most of his back with a slight gash, and raising his white cell count to help repair the rest, Phantom's vision began to blur. "No, not yet… need to… hang on." Then she stopped, told Coulson that Fury was on his way, and that she needed to go after Loki. She stumbled over to where his body was and while he was getting up, her strength left her, and she blacked out. Loki, intrigued by the young warrior, threw her over his shoulder, and carried her out onto his plane, leaving her scythe and a bleeding Coulson.

* * *

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

I don't know anything except for Phantom's character.

Okay, so I have been wanting to due this Avenger story since I watched Avengers the first time. I'm going to follow the MCU as much as possible by having Phantom make appearances in every sequence, it can be a big role, or a very little role, it just depends. So the reason why I chose mystery for this story, is because I wanted to make Phantom's life as mysterious as possible. I do plan to finish my other stories, but I'm still waiting for Miraculous Ladybug for the so called, "New Villain." As for Magi, I'm working on it, but I think I will have this done faster due to the vast amount of time that I thought about this story. THANKS FOR READING AND I HOPE YOU ENJOY!


	2. Avengers 2

After the attack the S.H.I.E.L.D. flying vessel, everyone was recovering from the attack and trying to regain their strength. Fury managed to found Coulson, but with the gash and loss of blood, Coulson had to punch out and pass out. Phantom's scythe was found in a hole near where Coulson was stabbed. Phantom, Thor, and Hulk were all gone, but S.H.I.E.L.D. did receive Barton back. Phantom's healing helped saved his life, but Fury knew that the Avengers needed a little push in the right direction to get them fighting with each other again, so he made his report, "Coulson is down. They called it." Tony and Steve went to the command center table and just sat there while Fury gave them the news while fidgeting with Coulson's playing cards, "These were in Coulson's pocket. I guess he never did get you to sign them. We're dead in the air up here. Our communications, the location of the Cube, Banner, Thor, Phantom… I got nothing for you. I lost my one good eye. Maybe I had that coming. Yes, we were going to build an arsenal with the Tesseract. I never put all my chips on that number, though, because I was playing something even riskier. There was an idea, Stark knows this, called the Avengers Initiative. The idea was to bring together a group of remarkable people to see if they could become something more. To see if they could work together when we needed them to, to fight the battles that we never could. Phil Coulson died still believing in that idea. In heroes." Tony stood up, unable the shake the guilt of the death of Coulson, so he left the room to go the prison of the ship.

* * *

While this meeting was going down, Phantom found herself in an old dance studio that she remembered from her childhood. She looked into the mirror and saw her current face with her mask on still. She looked over to her right to see to shrouded figures. One five foot eight, the other about six feet within the mirror. She smelled the ocean combined with the softness of a calm river stream coming from the tall one and vanilla honey from the other. When she tried to run over to the glass, a gun was shot from behind her, causing the mirror to shatter, and someone else's blood splatted on her. She quickly turned over to the perpetrator, who was also clouded by a hood within another mirror. This figure had thin strings strapped to his body, like a German puppet and smelt like smoked marijuana and narcotics. She ran over to it, the gunman shot, she dodged, and the bullet grazed the left side of her neck. She ran up and punched the mirror causing it to shatter, and splatter even more blood on her. Phantom glanced up to see three men in full mask and hoods watching her every move. One had an all-metal mask with a red star on the right cheek and the strings of the puppet with him, another with an all black mask with a red skull with six tentacles coming from it, and the final was just a white mask with nothing on it. She grabbed three shards of the broken glass and threw them up to the men, but they just went through them. Then the floor went out and she dropped into the abyss, screaming while reaching up the masked men.

Phantom eyes then burst open to find herself with a luxury type room, on a really comfy curving brown leather couch. She was the end of it with her hands handcuffed in old schooled slave shackles above her head with a chain running to the ground. Her legs with tied together with two ropes on both sides tied to nails on the floor making them only able to move a few inches. Phantom squirmed to try to free herself to no avail. The cuffs was slicing up her wrist, and the rope was burning her ankles. She looked down to see her trench coat gone, but she still had on her sleeveless turtleneck and shorts but her boots were missing. She looked and saw them on a single black leather chair near her. She wiggled around some more to see if she had any weapons to try to free herself, but it seems that her capture took those as well. "Ugh. How am I going to get out of this? How long was I even out? Who the hell took me and where the hell am I?" Phantom thought to herself. Then the culprit came inside and she turned to see who it was. She saw the third to last person in the world, who she wanted to see. "My, my, my. Look who is confined now, hmmm. I made them extra tight for you. I hope you don't mind, but I took the precaution of placing your clothing and weaponry safe out of your reach, only to make yourself comfortable, of course. Oh, and that little security measure you young mercenaries have? I took that out as well," Loki explained to her. Phantom had to think of that for a split second, until she knew what he was talk about. Her guild had little extremely toxic poison placed within a strong place in their mouths, incase if they were ever captured to try to be interrogated, they could just break the vial, and kill themselves beforehand. Phantom placed her tongue to where her vial was placed, at the top right side of her mouth where her wisdom teeth would have grown. She didn't feel it and she then she realized what Loki had to do to get it.

"You took off my mask?" Phantom asked threateningly to the trickster. He then strolled over to her, took her mask off again, and stated, "I don't know why you wear it. Oh wait, actually I do. It is a constant reminder of the one thing you will never be able to change. You still do have a nice face, and with those threatening eyes, it makes you look even better than before. You can tell truth and lies, and still know which is which even from professionals. Your skin and skills are flawless, except when your heart gets involved. Your heart, so broken, so lost, so forgotten. By shutting down everything, you can no longer feel that remorse again, which will make you an even better ruler by my side." Loki stroked her bare chin with his fore finger and thumb while making his claim and slowly running his other hand on her exposed thighs. She didn't move away from his ice cold touch but rather just kept glaring at his smoldering green eyes with a twinge of red deep near the pupil. He then picked up his scepter and reached up to her forehead. Phantom then remembered her training and focused and when the scepter touched her, she felt nothing happen. She looked at him and he looked puzzled. "Why isn't it working?!" Loki screamed touching her forehead over and over. Phantom then replied with confidence in her voice knowing the actual truth, but stating a lie, "It's like you said Loki. I shut down my heart years ago, making your magic utterly worthless against me." He then grabbed her throat and she just kept her smirk. He stared at her with lethal eyes, while she didn't break away from his gaze with her challenging eyes and emotionless face but cocky smile. It wasn't until they heard a loud explosion that Loki broke the connection. Her lift her mask up to cover her face, and went outside leaving Phantom to struggle against her confinements.

While Phantom struggled, her sensitive hearing heard a metal clank coming from outside and

swirling rim of running machinery approaching her destination. She waited until she the heard the rhythm of two walking patterns enter the luxurious room. She looked down to see Loki speak, "Please tell me you're going to appeal to my humanity." She tried to then look to where he was looking but she couldn't see who it was. "Actually, I'm planning to threaten you." As soon as she heard Tony's voice, she felt an immense wave of relief. Loki then taunted Tony with, "You should have left your armor on for that." Tony then agreed with him and stated, "It's seen a bit of mileage and you've got the glow stick of destiny. Would you like a drink?" Loki then stated, "Stalling me won't change anything." Tony then contradicted him, "No, no, no. Threatening. No drink? You sure? I'm having one." Phantom then spoke from her spot, "If you could make me one too, that'd be nice." Tony then glanced over to her, secretly relieved that she was alive, and stated calmly, "Oh there you are. We were wondering where you went too. A little early to be tied up, don't you think? Aren't you also underage?" Phantom then joked, "Well you know me Stark. I break all the rules, so make me one. Scotch, Johnnie Walker. The John Walker and Sons: The John Walker." Tony then responded, "Ohhh, fancy. One John Walker coming up. Ice?" Phantom then responded, "Please. Three cubes." Loki being tired of being ignored, questioned, "The Chitauri are coming. Nothing will change that. What have I to fear?" Tony focusing the drinks stated, "The Avengers." When Loki looked confused, Tony explained, "That's what we call ourselves. We're sort of like a team. "Earth's mightiest heroes"-type of thing." Phantom then expressed, "Oooo, "Earth Mightiest Hero," I like that. That'll make a great resume." Tony then agreed, "Right?" Loki not feeling the threat or understanding the joke stated, "Yes, I've met them." Tony then smirked and stated, "Yeah. It takes us a while to get any traction, I'll give you that one. But let's do a head count here. Your brother, the demigod, a super soldier, a living legend who kind of lives up to the legend. A man with breathtaking anger-management issues, a couple of master assassins, one highly sought after mercenary, and you, big fella, you've managed to piss of every single one of them." Loki only looked amused by Tony's little roster of heroes, stated, "That was the plan."

"Not a great plan," Tony blurted out while having him glass in his right hand and Phantom's in his left. "When they come," he continued. "And when they do, they'll come for you." He placed Phantom's drink right in front of her, without even giving her a means to untie herself. She shot him a look that screamed, "Really?," and he just shrugged at her. Tony then turn his attention back to Loki, while Loki stated, "I have an army." Tony argued like a child on the playground, "We have a Hulk." Loki then expressed how he though Hulk wandered away, and Tony brought him back to his threat, "You're missing the point. There is no throne. There is no version of this where you come out on top. Maybe your army come and maybe it's too much for us, but it's all on you. Because if we can't protect the Earth, you can damn well sure we'll avenge it." Tony then took a drink while Phantom gagged and stated, "Oh my god. That was the most movie like cheesy speech I have ever heard. Damn you even had to use the team name in there somewhere, didn't you?" Loki then slowly walked to Tony and questioned, "How will your friends have time for me, when they are so busy fighting you?" Loki then tried to hit Tony with his scepter right where Tony's arc reactor was. Phantom could see that Tony was scared that it was going to happen, but relieved when it didn't and Phantom felt the same thing. She let out a silent breath of relief. Loki tried it again, and when it didn't work, he stated, "This usually works." Tony, being the ass he was, claimed, "Well, performance issues, it's not uncommon. One out of five…" then Loki grabbed his throat and threw Tony to the floor. She heard command while getting up, "Jarvis, anytime now." Loki picked up Tony by his throat again, threatened, "You will all fall before me." She heard Tony command, "Deploy," and the whirling of machinery coming from the other side she couldn't see. Loki then lifted Tony up, and threw him outside, to the New York streets. Something big and red flew past her, Loki, and followed Tony.

She waited another moment, looked to the shattered glass window, and when she saw Tony, she let out another sigh of relief. "And there's one other person you pissed off. His name was Phil," Tony stated, while Phantom just looked confused by that statement. When Loki reached up to attack, Tony beat him to it and blast him to the other side of the room. Tony flew in next to Phantom, blasted her handcuffs that made them chained together. She then went to her ankles and bit down on the rope to cut then binds. She ran to her coat and put on all her weaponry and asked, "Where's my scythe?" Tony stated, "Romanoff's got it and is on her way." Phantom nodded, and then another blast went off from the outside. When both her and Tony looked outside, they saw a large blue light go to the sky. She and him ran outside to see a black hole open in the sky, and saw some weird creatures begin to fly out of it. "Right. Army," Tony stated, remembering what was going to happen. Iron Man took off in the sky, towards the rest and began to shoot at them. When some of them came down to Phantom's shooting level, she pulled out two handheld guns, and began to accurately shoot down some of the creatures to their deaths. She saw Loki come out with her armor coming back on while he walked to the platform to marvel (:D) at his work. Thor then flew up next to Phantom, she let out a sigh of relief of seeing the model haired god, and stated to him, "Oh thank Odin, you showed up!" Thor then shouted, "Loki! Turn off the Tesseract, or I'll destroy it." Loki then made his war proclamation, "I can't. There is no stopping it. There is only the war." Thor, understanding Loki's claim, stated, "So be it," and then he and Loki went at it. Loki then almost hit Phantom with his beam, if it wasn't for her rolling away at the last minute. When she saw Iron Man about to fly past, she took out her guns and shot at whatever was following them, only able to take out a handful.

Phantom then got up and saw Agent Barton and Romanoff flying a jet near the edge, when she saw them fire, she knew Loki would too, so thinking that Thor had him, Phantom ran over, jumped and held on the jet as it was falling. When they landed a couple of big rocks, managed to scrap her up a little, but didn't do any major damage. When the door opened up, she ran inside and was greeted by a serious looking Captain. "Cap," she greeted him with no emotion, and tried to run inside. Steve seeing the actual injuries she put on herself, the chains on her wrist, and how much harm there was to come, grabbed her arm and stated, "I want you to get out of here." She turned to him and stated, "No. My job isn't done. I'm getting the Tesseract, once and for all. I get it, I'm young, and I shouldn't be here. But I am, and there is nothing you can do about it. Plus, I've got a score to settle." She then went over to Natasha, who already had her scythe in her hand. Phantom took the scythe, looked at Barton, and stated, "Clint." He nodded at her and she walked out to where Captain was heading off to. "So what's the game plan," Phantom asked Captain as they ran. "We've got to get up there," Captain stated openly. "You can't shut it off. It's got an energy barrier surrounding it. Even Tony's blaster couldn't get through," Phantom warned him. Everyone then looked up, saw some giant space whale mixed with a turtle come through the hole, and Phantom stated, "You've got to be kidding me." As the space creature flew passed them, more of the other weird aliens popped of the giant, and latched on the skyscrapers. "Stark, are you seeing this?" Captain questioned Iron Man. "Seeing. Still working on believing. Where's Banner? Has he shown up yet?" Iron Man questioned back. When Cap asked about Banner, Iron Man told him to keep him posted. While Barton tried to point out the situation of the civilians, Phantom noticed Loki without his scepter flying past them on one of the flying little aliens, shooting up the city. "They're fish in a barrel down there," Captain pointed out about the civilians. Natasha turned to Phantom and Captain and claimed, "We got this. It's good. Go." Captain questioned Barton's abilities, Phantom smirked, and Barton immediately replied, "Captain, it would be my genuine pleasure." Barton then shot an arrow and took out four of the aliens in one shot.

Phantom and Captain then took off the help the civilians. When they got to the New York Police, who were still trying to understand what was going on, Captain began to make orders, "You need men in these buildings. There are people inside and they're going to be running right into the line of fire. You take them to the basements or through the subway. You keep them off the streets. I need a perimeter as far back as 39th." When the policeman tried to question Captain, some of the aliens began to shoot off at them until Phantom used her scythe as a boomerang that hit five of the flying aliens, causing them to fall, and return back to her. While she and Captain fought off some in hand to hand combat, with her knifes and guns, and with his shield. When the police realized the skills of these two people that is when he began to follow Captains orders.

She and Captain ran back over to Natasha and Clint, and fought off some of the Chitauri when they returned to them. Thor then graced them with his presence by shooting off some lighting some of the Chitauri before he landed. When Captain asked about the Cube, Thor told him the same thing that Phantom did before. Tony stated through their intercoms while flying pass with some Chitauri on his tail, "Thor's right. We got to deal with these guys." Natasha then questioned, "How do we do this?" Captain's immediate reaction was, "As a team." Thor then tried to contradicted, "I have unfinished business with Loki." Barton and Phantom then replied at the same time, "Yeah, get in line." Captain barked, "Save it. Loki's going to keep this fight focused on us, and that's what we need. Without him, these things could run wild. We got Stark up top. He's going to need us to…" Then the low rumble of a bike came up the team. Everyone turned to see that it was the last of the Avengers to arrive. "Dr. Banner," Phantom stated as she jogged up to him. When he saw her, he looked a little relieved. He then began to point out the obvious, "So, this all seems horrible." Natasha then recalled a memory, "I've seen worse." Bruce apologized and Natasha continued, "No, we could use a little worse." Captain then reported Banner in to Tony, which Tony replied, "Then tell him to suit up. I'm bringing the party to you." Then Iron Man came into their vision with the giant space whale. "I don't see how that's a party," Natasha pointed out. "Yeah, Stark. Remind me not to party with you," Phantom 'memo'ed the man. Iron Man flew right passed them and Captain stated, "Dr. Banner. Now might be a really good time for you to get angry." Banner turned to him while walking towards the beast, smiled, and stated, "That's my secret, Captain. I'm always angry."

Then Bruce finally let the big guy loose. Hulk punched the whale to stop and caused it to collapse on itself. Iron Man came in with the assist and shot a missile to prevent large chunks to fall on them. Captain shielded Romanoff, Barton hid behind a car, Thor hit things that came into his direction, Phantom's eyes changed to a solid brown and a big wall of Earth appeared in front of her, shielding her body. The Chitauri all then roared at the assailants, Hulk roared back, and the Avengers formed into a kill circle (movie reference!), with their weapons ready for attack. Suddenly, more began to come through the portal. Natasha was the first to point it out, "Guys." Everyone then looked up to the sight. "Mierada," Phantom muttered under her breath. "Call it, Captain," Iron Man ordered. "All right, listen up. Until we can close that portal, our priority is containment. Barton, I want you on that roof. Eyes on everything. Call out patterns and strays. Stark, you got the perimeter. Anything gets more than three blocks out, you turn it back or you turn it to ash." Barton then asked Stark for a lift and Tony replied, "Right. Better clench up. Legolas." Hawkeye and Iron Man then took off to their posts. Captain continued, "Thor, you got to try and bottleneck that portal. Slow them down. You got the lightning. Light the bastards up." Before Thor took off Phantom replied, "Thor take me up near the Tesseract. I can access Stark's weaponry and assist you with hitting them while they come through." Thor nodded, held her close to him while she had her arms around his neck, and they took off. Captain watched them go for a moment until he continued turning to Natasha, "You and me, we stay here on the ground. We keep the fight here. And Hulk," the Hulk turn towards Captain with excitement. Captain pointed up and stated, "Smash." The Hulk smiled, jumped off, and went to work to destroy the Chitauri.

* * *

Thor flew Phantom to where the balcony was and she told him to go and do what Captain said, while running inside. "JARVIS?!" Phantom yelled to the room not knowing if it would work. "Yes, ma'am," the British AI replied. "I need access to Stark's weaponry or lab." The AI tried to say, "I'm sorry ma'am, but you do not have…" Phantom got impatient and threatened, "JARVIS, I SWEAR, I WILL CHANGE YOUR PROGRAMMING TO MAKE YOU A LADY! WE ARE IN CRISIS MODE AND I NEED THOSE WEAPONS NOW!" The AI, knowing the scenario, granted her access and took her to Starks workshop. When she arrived, she saw a bunch of missiles, blasters, and various other contraptions. "Jarvis, I need jet boots with lots of energy, charged enough to get through this fight, a mounted blaster with the increased power with the width of a cannon, and a missile large enough to take out whatever is in that damn portal." Jarvis told her where to find those things, but stated, "Ma'am, the blaster needs someone to man it before it fires." Phantom grabbed Tony's computer, and changed the program to hack into a small device to set it off, "I got it Jarvis." She then rolled what she needed to the elevator and placed them on the balcony, positioning them to where the hole was. She then went back to the work shop and took two Iron Man hand blasters and a breathing mask to help her fly through. She went back out, used the remote, to test it out, and fired a shot into the hole. When she saw that it worked she flew over to where Thor was and told him, "Thor, I got a blaster and a missile at the ready whenever you need it. I just fired the blaster but it is going to need time to charge, about five minutes. The missile is there too, but that is a one shot deal okay?" Thor nodded his head and then Tony came on her com, "Did you go into my lab and take my prototype blaster cannon, AND MY BOOTS AND GLOVES?" He yelled when he saw her with only the boots and gloves. She then stated, "Yeah sorry Stark. I needed them. I'll return then after I'm done."

She then turn on her IPod and began to play, "Here Comes the Boom," by Nelly as she flew off to fight the Chitauri in the area who were flying. When she saw Tony with a bunch on his tail, she flew over, decapitated two, turn off the boots to kick three, and sliced two more in haft while a couple of them got pass her to follow Tony. When Barton looked, he saw the red in her eyes, with a large sinister smile on her face through the mask as he remembered he did at one assignment where he learned how she got her name. When he listened in, he heard Stark ask, "Nice call. What else you got?" He told him Thor's situation and he guessed that Phantom heard because she flew off to that direction. Tony replied, "And he didn't invite me." Tony followed behind Phantom. Phantom saw Romanoff got a ride and was trying to avoid trouble, so she flew up, spun, and decapitated the driver and the shooter, while slice both of their bodies in haft, along with their ship. When Tony saw that, he got to see the potential that Phantom was trying to tell him about. Phantom then flew down and assisted Captain with Romanoff gone. She managed to duck at the right moment when Iron Man and Cap created their slicing beam. After the beam was gone, she shot up, began to spin around, and slice the aliens in haft with her scythe. All of their "blood" was raining down on her, but she didn't seemed phased by it, in fact it began to make her go even faster while she began to laugh maniacally. When she glanced over and saw one on Steve, she wrapped the staff part of the scythe on the body, lift it up, and sliced it as it fell away from Captain. "Captain, the bank on 42nd past Madison. They've cornered a lot of civilians in there," Clint told Steve through the com. Steve nodded at Phantom, who held down the fort while went to save the citizens.

When she saw that he was blasted out, she decided to take a drastic measure. The earth began to shake, and giant spikes of stone came out stabbing through the Chitauri. She then looked up to see the portal and she fired another blast through it while her IPod changed to "Down with the Sickness" by Disturbed. When she saw the area clear, she ran over to Steve, helped him down from the car, and asked, "You alright, Rogers?" He looked up to see her eyes were two different shades. One was blood red while the other held its natural azure. He only nodded at her, and then she took off to go after more of the Chitauri. When Phantom was in the air, she saw Loki get shot down by an explosive, so she gave Clint a thumbs up, and proceeded to fight more Chitauri. She tried to take down one of the whales but she couldn't cut through the shell. "DAMN IT!" she yelled in annoyance. She then had another idea. She ran up to the head, grabbed her knife, and stabbed the thing in the eye. Naturally, it didn't die, but then it began to thrash around in pain. She then focused her mind to hear a quickening heartbeat. She focused even more and the heart slowed down until eventually it stopped, and the beast began to fall through the sky. She pulled her knife out of the eye, and flew off while screaming with pride laced in voice.

She looked down to see Stark was taken down by some of the Chitauri, so she flew to his location, and began to slice off their limbs, and tear apart their bodies. While helping him, Fury came on the intercom, "Stark, do you hear me? You have a missile headed straight for the city?" When Tony asked how long, Fury told they only had three minutes. Stark then flew off and when Phantom finished the last of that area, she flew off after him. "Stark," she called over the com. He responded, "Yeah." She told him what she had. "I got your strongest missile aimed up to the hole to if you want to send that off with the nuke." He responded have it ready, and she flew over to Stark Towers and prepared the coordinates. Natasha told them that she could close it and when Steve told her to do it, Stark and Phantom told them no wait. "I got a nuke coming in as well as another missile at the ready. They're gonna blow in less than a minute. And I know just where to put it." Steve tried to warn Tony, but Tony gave Jarvis his order for the turn. Phantom listened in to Tony's com and heard that he was trying to call someone, who wasn't picking up the phone. Phantom watched, when she saw him about to turn, she unleashed her bomb. The bomb caught to Tony's speed and it flew up right next to the nuke. She listened even further and heard his breath deteriorate. "Stark? STARK?!" Phantom yelled as she watched the hole. Cap gave the word and Phantom objected, "NO!" She then tried to fly up but the boots were out of juice. She then looked up to see Tony fall threw. Her eyes went to a very light green and the wind began to pick her up and take her to where Tony was going to fall. She saw that Hulk managed to save him and she flew down next to the four men. She pushed Cap slightly and listened for any sign of life coming from the man. She had his pulse, but no breath came from him. She then concentrated on his lungs, but her focused what broken when she heard the Hulk cry out.

It managed to send a spark through his body causing him to jolt awake. Everyone looked at Tony with relief and astonishment, while Hulk hit his chest like a leader of the apes. Tony questioned, "What the hell? What just happened? Please tell me nobody kissed me." Then he looked at Phantom, "Unless it was you, then it wouldn't have been so bad." She then pushed him a little because she knew he was going to be okay. Then her and Captain's muscles immediately relaxed and Cap stated, "We won." Tony let out a relaxed breath and let his head lay on the ground. Tony, lightening the mood, cheered with exhaustion, "All right, yay! Hurray. Good job, guys. Let's just not come in tomorrow. Let's just take a day. Have you ever tried shawarma? There's a shawarma joint about two blocks from here. I don't know what it is, but I want to try it." Phantom then placed her right hand on his suit and stated, "Yes, and I think you'll like it." Thor then claimed, "We're not finished yet." All three of them looked at with looks that begged to be done. Tony, still wanting food, "And then shawarma after." All of the Avengers met up in Tony's destroyed living room and were ready to take down Loki, who was struggling to get up the stairs. Phantom had her scythe, Hawkeye had his bow and arrow ready, Cap had his shield, Thor had his hammer, and Natasha had Loki's staff. Loki knowing his defeat stated, "If it's all the same to you, I'll have that drink now." Hulk grunted and Phantom handed him the glass that was on the table that she never got to drink, "Here the last taste of sweet, sweet freedom."

Everyone laughed when Phantom didn't allow him to finish. She handcuffed him, and allowed S.H.I.E.L.D. to take him. After that everyone went out to get sharwarma. Hulk went back to Bruce, and everyone went out in what they wore to battle, except for Bruce who had to borrow some of Tony's clothes and Tony took of the Iron Man suit. When they walked in, no one was out, so Phantom jumped over the counter and saw three people hiding in the back. "Hey, are you guys open?" Phantom asked them. They looked at her incredulously and she stated, "Well the battle's over, and my colleagues and I are starving. Fighting really works up an appetite. If you're not that fine, but I'm going to make shawarma myself, and if it's a cleaning issue, I can help a little bit before I eat." They recognized her from the street as a hero and the man told her, "No, no, no. We will cook and clean for and your friends. Just wait, and we will have a table ready." She told them okay, and relayed the message to the Avengers. They waited until the table was ready, and then waited for their food. The people just kept thanking them over and over again, and told them that the food was on them. While they waited everyone was quiet until Tony asked, "SO Phantom. How did you do all that stuff you did today?" Phantom raised an eyebrow at him and said, "I'm a trained mercenary and I know how to hack. Not that hard." Tony then objected, "No, no, no. Not the hacking or fighting, but the little things. Like the rocks, or taking down Moby Dick?" Phantom, knowing what Tony was getting at, said, "That's private, Stark. It's a long, long, long story." She told him drinking her sixth glass of water of ten minutes down. "Why do you drink so much water?" he asked. "That's kind of part of the long story," she responded not giving him an info. "You got my hard drive," she asked him. He told her it is in his suit and that he'll give it to her after this, which she replied okay to.

The food came fast, Cap ate a little and fell asleep. Thor ate his very quickly and Phantom gave Cap's explaining it's not good cold. Phantom ate hers and after a minute of eating she passed out in front of the other Avengers. Thor poked her, thinking she just fell asleep, stated, "Warrior of the Apparition, are you well?" When she didn't respond, everyone knew she passed out. Bruce checked her vitals, and it seemed fine so everyone just finished their shawarma. It wasn't until they saw blood come out of her ears, that was when they knew something was wrong. It was Tony, who kept glancing over to her noticed and shouted, "Ugh guys, Phantom's ears are bleeding!" Steve awoke at Tony's shout, looked over to Phantom and saw her not responding and with ears bleeding. Steve picked her up and asked the workers, "Where's the nearest hospital?" Tony stated, "We need to take her to Stark tower. Bruce is a doctor and I have a private medical wing, so we can handle her quickly." Everyone ran back to Stark Tower, and Tony showed them to the medical wing. Steve placed her on the medical bed, and Bruce began to examine her. Her heart rate was normal, as was her breathing. Bruce turned to the others and asked, "Did Phantom sustain any serious bloody injuries today?" Everyone glanced at each other and said, "No." Banner did some more test while everyone sat in another entertainment room that Tony had that wasn't damaged. Bruce came back, and Tony, Steve, and Thor stood up. Thor was the first to ask, "How is the young maiden?" Tony then interjected, "Yeah, how is our teen of covetousness?" Steve glared at Tony and asked seriously, "How is she?" Bruce sighed and said, "Tired. She passed out due to exhaustion, and her brainwaves are calm, but they had get that way. Her white blood count was really low, but strangely it was growing surprisingly quickly. She'll be fine. She just needs rest."

* * *

It took two days for her to sleep, and everyone wanted to wait until she was awake to send Loki back. During her time sleeping, Tony took her IPod, which he found by her scythe, and decided to give her a Starkphone with 768 gigabytes and downloaded all of the music she had on her current IPod, which was a dinosaur. Tony then found similar music and added it as well making the music song count over five thousand songs, but Tony arranged them into playlist and sub playlist. The first playlist system was by country, then divided by genres of the countries, again by times to be used like training, meditation, cooking, or cleaning, and finally dividing them by artist and year. He also gave her a private phone number that only the Avengers could call. When someone would try, after they dialed the number, they would have to dial a special ten digit code, then a three digit code, and it would show Phantom who was calling and whether or not she wanted to accept it. He also put in a cloaking device, so that only he could find her if he ever needed to. Thor took his time to sharpen her knives and scythe, whiling trying to swing it the way she did, but unable to fully grasp her fighting style. Bruce knowing that she will only push herself on from this moment, decided to brew and make several medications for her to take so she wouldn't get ill or put her health at risk. Clint and Natasha decided to get her more guns, since they knew that she used up all the ones she brought for this assignment. Steve just went to go see her everyday to make sure he would be one of the first people she would see when she woke up. He would read the news to her, have calm soothing music play on Bruce's recommendation, and just talk to her while she slept. Steve wanted to take Bruce's advice about her taking off her mask so she could breathe better, but Tony argued that it was something she wouldn't have wanted, so everyone reluctantly agreed to keep it on.

On the third day, she woke up right at dawn and looked around to her surrounding. She was tucked into a soft white bed that was in an all white room with a computer monitor checking her heart rate, which was stable. She could smell the soothing scent of apple cinnamon in the room and peppermint on her. She moved her face around and she knew someone put the peppermint oil on her forehead. Her muscles were completely relaxed and she felt an emotion she wasn't felt in a long time: safe and warmth. She glanced over to her right side, only to see Steve fast sleep within his chair. She made a few facial movement and new her mask was still on her face, and she sighed in relief. She made a small smile at the man next to her and then she went right back to sleep.

She woke back up again at noon, when she felt someone touching her in an instant. She saw Banner touching her neck, and she startled him with her eyes shooting open like that. "OH, Phantom, you scared me. How are you feeling?" the doctored asked her with concern. She smiled at his kindness and replied, "I feel a lot better. I really needed that sleep. I don't think I've slept like that in a long time." She then sat up, but Steve appeared from behind him and pushed her back down gently, stating, "Don't push yourself. You just woke up." Tony then sauntered in and stated, "If she wants to get up, let her. She's been sleeping for two days anyway. Plus she woke up originally five hours ago. I know cause Jarvis woke me up when she did, but when I came here, she fell back asleep." Phantom just smiled and teased, "Aww, you do care." Tony blushed and turned away from her. She sat back up on her own, and noticed that she was still in her clothes from the Battle of New York. She turned to them and asked, "Why didn't any of you change my clothes?" Tony replied instantly, "Oh we wanted to, but Natasha was afraid you would attack her in your sleep." Phantom nodded her head to the side and said, "Makes sense. Stark, would you mind making a trip to Bath and Body Works and get me Japanese Cheery Blossom Soap and Lotion? Then to the store to get Noxzema and have Thor get me whatever shampoo he uses for his luxurious locks? I also need my bag from S.H.I.E.L.D. for my clothes and mask. I feel gross." Tony started to die of laughter at her statement about Thor's hair. Natasha walked in with Clint and Fury who had her bag. "I got your bag. All that's in here is a charger, some clothes, and masks," Fury stated. She took the bag from him, thanking him, and Thor walked in. Bruce then stated, "Let them go get your bathing supplies while I run some medical test." She nodded and Tony took Thor, who was wearing normal clothes, much to Phantom's surprise, and Steve to "show them the modern world."

While Bruce ran his test with only him and Phantom in the room, he asked Phantom while checking her pulse, "So, what experimentation did you go through for you kinetic abilities, or are they natural?" Phantom shocked by the question, responded, "So you know?" He only nodded, and she continued knowing that he would only push her because he did some of the research years ago, "Part of it was natural. It didn't fully click until years ago, then when I entered the Guild, they made me undergo some serious experimentation by adding gamma radiation, various chemical enhancements, torture, and electro shocks to the brain. I regret nothing, but my abilities wear me down quickly, and depending on how much of them I use, determines how much I need to sleep or consume water. This is the second longest I've ever slept, the first time was for four days after my father's death." He then stated, "Does it do anything to your life span? Did anyone else have abilities like you?" She was quiet for a moment and replied, "I don't honestly know. From my knowledge, no. I inherited my original abilities from my father, who is no longer part of this world. That's all I want to about the issue." He then remained quiet as he finished his tests on her.

* * *

When the boys returned, Phantom thanked them for their journey, then she went into the bathroom that Tony offered her. Tony gave her some bath salts with bubble bath soap all with a cherry blossom scent. She started to fill the tub with hot water and put the bubble soap in to make it add bubbles. She went the mirror and took off her mask first. She had on bruises on her face, which was nice, but then she began to strip down. Her black shirt had several cuts in on it, so she decided to throw it out. She knew she could fix the cuts on her body when she took a bath. She began to take off her shorts and she saw she had way too many scratches on her legs going up to her thighs. She decided to throw her black bikini underwear away, and she looked at her black 34C sports bra. She knew that she had to get rid of it, but it was one of her favorites and she didn't want to throw it out. She threw out the bra and then went over to the bathtub and added the bath salt. She applied the Noxzema to her face and kept it on while she went to the bath. She slowly stepped into the hot bath and all of her muscle began to release the tension from the battle days ago. She let out a sigh of relaxation. She then allowed her abilities to be let loose, causing the water to combine the layers on skin and muscle from the inside out. She then thought about her past and she began to sing softly while scrubbing her body with the loofa that Tony bought her:

[Phantom: Under a tree at quarter three

I had some hope in me

But my life was taken from me

But I did not feel peace

I made a vow within my gown

That love will never come to me

There they are and suddenly

I feel that I have been found]

Phantom then glanced down to her scared up wrists and thought of her memories:

[Phantom: That is what it is

That pain twist

The look at my bitter wrists

There's so much life left in their eyes

It should not end like this]

Phantom then got out of the tub, drained out the tub, looked at herself in the mirror, and thought, "My scars are my memories of my vow. I cannot stop until I get my vengeance." She then went into the shower and applied the Japanese Cherry Blossom Shower Gel and shampoo that Tony got her from a professional salon:

[Phantom: My dreams were slain

My face was stained

With memories of my pain

Peace never came

So I can't do the same

I will be okay]

She then scrubbed off the gel, the Noxzema that didn't soak into her skin, applied the condition, washed that out, and then got out of the shower. She then proceeded to grab her bag and looked inside to only see various clothes that wasn't hers along with her masks. Her eyebrow began to twitch with annoyance and immediately thought, "STARK!" She put on a hair and body towel that barely went to her mid-thighs, along with her standard mask, and walked out into a full room of people. Steve's face immediately turned as red as a tomato and covered his face, Fury and Natasha raised their one of their eyebrows, Clint snorted at Phantom's boldness, Thor and Bruce both averted their eyes, and Tony started to die of laughter, while clapping, "OH MY GOD! I KNEW YOU WOULD BE MAD, BUT I DIDN'T THINK YOU WOULD COME OUT IN ONLY A TOWEL!" She placed her hands on her hips and stated, "Stark, where are my clothes?" He kept laughing and stated still laughing, "I threw them out. As the Head of the Fashion World, I couldn't let your monstrosity of fashion sense go on to continue. I got you some cute clothes, why don't you try them out?" Phantom's eyebrow began to twitch in annoyance again, crossed her arms, enhancing her bust cleavage, and told him bluntly, "You got the wrong sizes. Mainly in the underwear department." Steve's nose then began to bleed and he screamed, "PUT ON SOME CLOTHES, PLEASE HAVE SOME DECENCY!" Phantom looked at Stark and stated, "I wear size zero in pants and small in shirts. My bra size is 34C. I will wear the clothes, but as of this moment they're too big, and the bra is a cup size B." She then turned to the embarrassed Captain covering his face, "CAP YOU ARE A GONE MAN, IT'S NOT A BIG DEAL TO SEE ME NAKED! *Sigh*, can you let me borrow a shirt and some sweats before Tony gets back?" Cap nodded his head and ran off with Natasha to get his clothes. When Natasha came back, she found Phantom sitting on the bed with her legs and arms crossed. Natasha handed her Steve's clothes, Phantom took them, and stated, "If you all don't want to see me naked, I suggest you get out, now." She then proceeded to take off the towel and everyone ran out.

* * *

It took a moment for Phantom to change, and she used her powers to dry her hair with creating waves into it. She walked out and everybody was astonished by how different she looked, but it looked like something she would wear. She had on a black cami with a white button at the top, tank top. She also had on a black sleeveless cardigan that had a leatherback and black boots that had an inch extension that went up just beneath her knees. She had on dark short jean shorts that had two beige pockets just passing the cut line. She also had on her standard black sleeveless gloves and the shackles that Loki put on her before. Tony nodded with approval and asked, "Better? You look awesome, but still retained your badassery, but I didn't approval those shackles." Phantom then stated, "Stark, I'm keeping the shackles, they're a memoir of the battle. Now where's my other stuff, mainly my scythe and my IPod." Tony then let a giant grin appear from his face, and stated, "I GOT YOU SOMETHING EVEN BETTER!" He then ran up to her and placed a poorly wrapped in her hands. She raised her eyebrow and looked very confused. He then motioned her to open it and when she did, she held no emotion on her face, but only looked at the gift. "What. Is. This?" Phantom questioned quietly. Stark not reading the room replied happily, "It's a StarkPhone. I noticed your dinosaur and thought you needed an upgrade. I put all of your current music on there and expanded it by adding more like the songs you already had. You even have over 500 gigabytes still to use, and, and, all of our numbers are on there and we have yours. We will need to do a series of task before it fully calls you, but it will be worth it in the long run." Phantom's eyes then became dangerous when she looked up, grabbed Tony by his collar, and asked slowly with venom laced in her voice, "Where is my IPod?" Tony being shocked wanted to question further, but Natasha walked up with it and handed it to Phantom. Phantom took a deep breath, let him go, and told him, "Stark. I greatly appreciate this, and I know your heart is in the right place, but this IPod, dino or not, was given to me by someone I loved in my past. That is why I never upgraded, along with the trackers placed in modern technology. I will use the Starkphone, but next time, please just ask, before you act. You got a tracker on it?" Stark then stated quickly, "Yep, but only Jarvis and I can access it."

Phantom, knowing that Stark wouldn't take it out, just sighed heavily, and requested, "Can I test it out?" Stark nodded his head quickly and ran out making the other Avengers follow him. He led them into what looked like a gymnast room. Stark then claimed, "Also you know how IPhones have Siri? Well, you have Jarvis, who is a million times better than Siri. He can hack into anything, and he only responds to you, well except when it comes to me. Test him out. The room has surround sound Bluetooth, so you can use it, while you train with your scythe." Clint then handed her the scythe. She then yelled out, "Okay Jarvis. Pick an upbeat song. Something that will make everyone tap their foot and make it fun for me to practice." Jarvis then told her he was shuffling through her training playlist and then Big Time Rush's "Any Kind Of Guy" came blaring on the speakers. Phantom did some small bunny hops until the beat hit, and she began to swing her scythe around, while jumping and flipping around to the beat. As she went, everyone could see the potential she keeps locked away in her fighting style. Right when they though she finished, Steve was about to walk up to her, until he heard the track sing: "Bring it back." She then began to do backflips while slicing her scythe on alternating sides. When she landed, she was crouched down with the scythe behind her back with the blade near her head. Everyone then began to clap when Tony came up and questioned, "Big Time Rush? I wouldn't have pegged you as the type." Phantom then stated while shrugging, "They're a good, modern boy band. Plus, they're cute, so why not?" Tony wanted to interject, but Cap interrupted before he could, "We need to transport Loki. Since Phantom is awake to see him go, I think the time is right." Phantom seemed puzzle by his statement and replied, "You guys haven't sent him back yet?" Everybody shook their head while Tony replied, "His final wish as a free man was for you to see him go." Phantom raised her eyebrow but didn't push the issue.

* * *

Everybody was then about to head out, until Thor stated he needed to change into his Asgardian attire. While waiting Phantom, testing out her new phone, was looking at the news from the battle of three days prior. People were having huge debates on whether the Avengers were heroes or vigilantes. While reading an article, Steve managed to come up on her, but she didn't care. He put his hand on her shoulder and told her, "You shouldn't read that garbage. We did a really good thing by protecting New York. We're heroes, it is what we do." Phantom remained quiet and replied softly, "I'm not a hero, Rogers. I'm not a hero, but I'm also not a villain. I work for the highest bidder, that's all. I'm worse than your perspective of Stark. I don't fight for anyone, just currency. I'm not an Avenger, and once Loki is gone and I get paid by Fury, you might never see me again." She put her phone away and tried to walk away, until Steve grabbed her arm, stopping her tracks, and stated, "You will always be an Avenger. It doesn't matter if you work for money, but you saved people, that makes you a hero." Phantom then replied, "I have also killed more people than you could ever imagine. I may have save a city, but it doesn't change what I've done, nor will it steer me from my path." Phantom pulled her arm away and waited in the front of Stark Towers for the others.

When Phantom had Thor in her line of sight, she hopped on to her 2012 Yamaha YZF-R6 motorcycle that Tony decided to be her as one of her "paychecks" for taking out the Chitauri. It was all black, which Phantom greatly appreciated, and it was something that she was looking to buy. She drove to where they were planning to ship Thor and Loki off from, the smackdab in the middle of Central Park. Phantom just drove in silence and thought about what all she needed to do. When she arrived, she had to wait about ten minutes until everyone showed up and Tony, who was wearing a silver suit with a blueish white shirt with a mid-blue tie, walked up to Phantom and handed her a helmet. The black helmet that had a black one way glass mask had a hooded skull on one side and a giant "A" on the other side. Phantom didn't show it, but she let out a small happy smile, and thanked Tony. When Loki showed up everyone walked up the circle together to get a full view of his or her "Favorite" villain leaving. When he looked up to Phantom, he checked out her form in a new attire and smirked underneath his mask at the view while Phantom glared at him with no emotion on her face. Steve walked up next to her in his old school clothing, similar to what he wore the first day he met her. Natasha stood on the other side with Clint. Natasha wore a orangish brown jacket with black skinny jeans and a rouge cami, under a tank top. Clint wore a worn down black jacket with a gray zip up hoodie underneath with a rouge t-shirt to match Natasha's with black sunglasses on. Tony and Bruce, who was wearing a yellow short sleeve shirt with gray khakis, set up the Tesseract with Dr. Selvig to send the Demi-god brothers home. The entire time, Loki just kept his eyes on Phantom who just had her arms crossed watching him. "Are you going to miss me," Loki asked within Phantom's mind. "No. I have enough trouble in my life without you around," she replied within his mind. "Make sure you come to visit, otherwise I'll get quite bored," he asked her teasingly. "No thanks. I got money and answers to get. I don't take vacations," she replied with a smirk. When the Tesseract was ready, Thor had his hand on his side while waiting for Loki to take his. Loki glanced back at Phantom and stated, "Too bad we met this way, I suppose. A seer, interrogator, as well a warrior. You would have made an excellent partner." She just shrugged and replied in their mind conversation, "Oh well. I guess you'll have to find someone else." With that he smiled, took his side, and Thor initiated the transport. Phantom really hated to admit it, but Loki did have his cute quirks about him. Even though he was crazy, he was a waste of Princely good looks. Everyone had to take a step back from the beams of light until they vanished into the sky.

Everyone then began to say their goodbyes. Phantom and Steve walked up to Tony's plum sports car. Tony and Steve shook hands to say their goodbye, and Steve left Phantom to talk to Tony. "So, this is it?" Phantom began. Tony only nodded his head and handed her three flash drives, "Here. As part of our deal, I put the files on the flash drive you gave me. The green one is a payment for helping us take down the Chitauri, since you're only going to be paid for a theft assignment. The red is something I think you would like to see in your free time. It might help you with whatever you need to figure out. If you need anything else, just feel free to give me a call." Tony then got up close to her ear to whisper, "I also will be calling you for some jobs in the future, so don't spam my calls." Phantom smiled underneath her mask and stated to him quietly, "Carmen. Mid-West. 1995-2000." Phantom then tried to pull away, but Tony pulled her in a hug and stated, "Be careful. I need more intelligent people who aren't afraid to make jokes and sass me back." She patted his back and went over to Bruce, who was approaching the car. "Dr. Banner," Phantom greeted with no emotion. He just handed her a large suitcase and stated, "For when you need some medical help." She smiled at the gift, gave him a small hug, and thanked him. She went over to Natasha and Clint and greeted, "Spies." They nodded at her and also handed her a large duffle bag. Phantom looked inside and saw lots of handheld guns, ranging from a lot of styles and firepower. She raised an eyebrow and asked, "You both know we might be on the opposite sides the next time we see each other right?" They both held no expression and only nodded. Clint was the first to speak, "Listen, if the Guilds don't work out, you'll always be welcomed into S.H.I.E.L.D. As well as the Avengers, but until then, we can't wait to see what is to come." Phantom only nodded her head. That was the professional assassination way of saying, "This isn't goodbye, just until next time." Fury made no attempt at a goodbye. He just handed her a flash drive with funds on it, and said, "I'll call when you're needed." Phantom then responded, "Ass." He smiled at her sass and went away with his agents.

Phantom then went over to say her final goodbye. She walked up to Steve who was just leaning on his bike that was conveniently parked next to hers. She adjusted her stuff to fit inside of the fairing. Her scythe was going to remain strapped to her back as she rode out to her copter by her safe house in Tahawus. She place her scythe to lean against her bike and got ready for a scolding by everyone's favorite Captain. "Oh Captain, my Captain," Phantom stated as she walked up to him. He held no expression on his face, but in his eyes, Phantom knew that there was something to be said. "Phantom, I want you to stay with us here as a Permanent Avenger," Captain stated to Phantom with authority in his voice. Phantom only shook her head and stated, "I work for the Guilds for a reason, Captain. I'm not a hero and I don't want to pretend to be. My hands are stained, and they will only rub off on you. You'll see me again, when the time is right. I just, I have something I have to do, even if it cost me my life. Keep being the nice, good guy that everybody wants around. Your light will pull others out of the dark, but me, I want the darkness. If I step into the light. All of my effort would be in vain." Phantom then went to the point of her toes, kissed him on the cheek, and said, "Goodbye." With that she went onto her bike, and took off towards her location leaving a life that would have changed her forever.

* * *

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

I DO NOT OWN ANY OF THE CHARACTERS EXCEPT PHANTOM AND THE GUILDS!

YAY! First Avengers Movie DONE! So excited I got to finish it and I can't wait to submit the next chapter. I hope you guys really enjoyed it!


	3. Iron Man 3: 1

After the aftermath of the Battle of New York, Phantom decided to go report back to the Guild before she went on her next job as she would usually do. She drove up to Tahawus and put her bike into the garage. She made a call to have one of her colleagues to have her picked up in a town nearby to take her all the way up to the Little Moose Wilderness area where the Guild Main House was. The house was in a very remote area that didn't have neighbors except for over an hour away in different directions. There were several different Guilds of training young mercenaries in the arts of assassinations, hijacking, hacking, interrogating, and other extreme procedures that seemed sinister for children to do. Each Guild had a different set of values and therefore had different aliases for their agents as well as their Guild names. Her Guild was known for complete mission accuracy, stealth, and even massacres. They were known as the Erinyes. Those who are sent out to commit the greatest of sins, but do not seek forgiveness. As Phantom watched the outside, she thought about her life and offers that she had been given.

She didn't even know what a Guild was until she was approached by the recruiter years ago. She did her training with a year, one of the fastest her guild had ever seen, and went out to the field. Her specialty was psychological interrogation. She remembered the day she was recruited. It was straight after her life went to hell after her family was massacred. She lost her parents first, and as her angered spiked, she took out their assailant. Her assailant was persuaded to do it by a figure that she has been hunting down for years, still unable to capture the bastard. She wanted to know why it was her parents. Her mother was just a performer while her father was a scientist. Her mother was more well known than her dad, but her dad was the main receiving target for the people who wanted information from him as well as to get even. At least, that was what she was told by a fellow agent during an assignment who held the puppet strings. During her families funeral, she was trying to be assigned to a foster family before her god family could take her, but no one wanted her. She was considered the walking black plague since the death of her immediate family. After her parents died, she went to go live with her mother's only living relative, her father, who died the next day of a heart attack. None of her father's family wanted her, because her dad was considered a "freakish black sheep" in his own family. While she remained the only one at her parents burial site, which they never got to use due to the bodies "disappearing," she was approached a young woman who had no emotion within her eyes. The woman told her that they have been watching her for some time, but now was as good as any to consider their proposition.

The woman told her that the assailant who killed her parents wasn't the one who played the mastermind. The woman even gave her photos of her brother speaking to the figure as well as video conversations between the two. The agent just wanted her father's files and her fathers alive, originally. The assailant didn't want that, but rather just wanted both of her parents to die against "the crimes that they caused against him." The puppet master then asked for Phantom to be the one to stay alive rather than her father. That was what bothered her the most. They didn't care who was going to stay alive as long as they got her father's research and genetics. The woman said that if the girl wanted her true revenge, she would have to learn how to hold her own against someone like the woman. Phantom, being blinded by anger, hatred, and vengeance, agreed and went with the woman.

The training was very rigorous. It was way more intense martial arts training than what she received before. She was beaten nearly to death more times the one. The trainers would train them with vital interrogation methods that would involve burning, slicing, electrocution, drugs, beatings, and breaking of limbs. This was to make sure that their future targets couldn't obtain any information if the agent was capture. This was also to train their trainees to learn how to mask whatever emotions that should have come easily to normal people. Their policy was that with no emotions came no attachment, therefore no reason for fail an assignment or showing fear. Phantom was also put through a newer program of mixing the genetic schematics of the trainees. Chemicals, brain electrocutions, more torture than the others, and even as far as exposure to gamma radiation to alter Phantom's genetics. It wasn't as much as what the Hulk had to go through, but enough to alter her natural mutation. They would take her to one of the training houses in Arizona, a very remote desert area. That's where they did the gamma radiations. They also used weather endurance training areas, such as Arizona within July and deep within Alaska in the middle of February. They put so on winter garbs while in Arizona and only the trainees in their underwear. The trainers would also force the trainees to learn a language while they "trained" their future agents. With more advancements with technology, the trainees would have to do hacking assignments with electrocution shackles attached to their wrists and if they weren't fast enough or if they did something wrong it would send extremely painful shocks through their bodies, scorching their wrist with burns. They would never take them to the hospital, they would just wait to see if the trainee had the will and drive to survive those kinds of beatings. Phantom, having only vengeance and desire in her mind, survived everything.

When her driver, a member of the Erinyes, finished the drive to the main house, he turned to tell her, "Phantom, Master is not happy with you. Just to give you a fair warning, prepare for punishment now." Phantom nodded at her colleague. Kisin was one of the older agents still around. He was really tall and skinny with extremely paled skin with no hair, like a skeleton. His eyes were as black as night and held no emotion. When Phantom came into the training program, Kisin was the one to train her and break her many times to prepare her for their careers. While seeing him break her, she saw his lighter side when he was beating her, because he held back some of his punches. Ever since she finished her basic training, she would communicate with Kisin and another colleague who finished his training around the time she arrived and started hers. She would talk to some of the children who were going through the training. She just tried to help them get through the training and the mental breakdowns late at night. She wasn't close to many of them except for one girl who was currently shadowing Phantom's career. When Phantom nodded her head at Kisin, he just put his hand on her shoulder, and she left his car and went back inside of the dark mansion. The mansion was huge and dark, but completely covered by trees so that no one could see the house from the skies.

Phantom had to do the secret knock, stomp, clap, and kick sequence to get into the house. When the door opened, she glanced down to one of the younger agents who was only around seven years old. The girl had the most gorgeous natural curly blonde hair that was dirtied by her current training. Her crystal eyes looked up and greet Phantom with no emotion, "Welcome back. Master wishes to see you, immediately." Phantom just stared down the girl and stated, "What I do with master is none of your interest, Corrine Dollanganger." The child glared and Phantom threatened, "Do I need to report your emotions showing, Corrine?" The child muttered no, walked to the next room to the left, and allowed Phantom inside. When Phantom shut the door as quietly as she could, but managed to hear a babies wailing going through the mansion. Some of the teenagers who were impregnated while on their assassination assignments had to deliver their children and report back to the field as quickly as they were able. The Guild doctors would decide whether the child would be able to be an agent or a liability, most of the time, they were liabilities, so the doctor would either send them off to foster care, or… make it a task for finalizing a young recruit's training.

Phantom came through the house and immediately reported to her guild master's room. Phantom knew her master the longest before anyone else in the guilds. The coordinator who came to recruit her in to the guild. Her master was a woman who was in her fifties who was a spy for hire over her lifetime. She was very well at hiding her native country, accent, and native language. She had the most dirty blonde hair that got darker over the years. She had natural beauty that never deteriorated over time. She just aged with complete grace, but it wasn't her beauty that made people noticed her. It was her eyes. She had the most vibrant green eyes that anyone would have ever seen. To a non-agent type, they would have looked calm and peaceful, but to any agent: they would know that they held experience and completely sinister thoughts. Phantom grew up with this woman, she saw what that woman was completely made of. She was one of the creators of the child guilds within the United States. She stated that she had the guilds within the old country and that it was a great opportunity for her to become a master for one, but that required obtaining young agents. If a young agent went through the training and couldn't make it through their training, they would have to eliminated. Those who needed to eliminated were assigned to the ones who needed a final assignment, and the Guild Master, who went by the name of Apophis, would assign the tasks.

Phantom waited at the outside of the door trying to calm her heart and mind down from the experiences that she had to endure from her training. After a minute of waiting, she went into the room and saw her guild master sitting at the desk. Phantom held no emotion within her eyes, kneeled to the desk, and reported, "I've returned, Master. I have your payment within this flash drive, ready to transverse to the house account." Her master was quiet for a moment, until she heard the nasally strained voice stated, "Rise." Phantom rose from her position without looking at her master. She then felt an intense slap against her right cheek, but she didn't allow her head to move to the slap. She didn't allow the slap to phase her or her emotions, while her master began to chew her out, "You were only supposed to retrieve a stolen item. It was supposed to be an in and out assignment! YOU BROKE THREE OF OUR RULES, PHANTOM! STEALTH, QUICK RESULTS, AND MOST IMPORTANTLY YOU WERE COMPROMISED! NO EMOTIONS, NO ATTACHMENTS! WHAT DO YOU HAVE TO SAY FOR YOURSELF?!" Phantom remained silent for a moment and replied stoically, "I went to retrieve the item as instructed, Master. It took only two days to retrieve the item. One of the most quickest calls and response assignments done in this facility. I did what I had to, to get my results." Her master then turned to her and glared, "You. Were. Seen. That is against our policies. As soon as this went public, you should excused yourself from the assignment and left." Phantom desperately trying not to let her anger show, explained, "If I would done that, you would never gotten paid for services, and then still be mad." Master, feeling as if Phantom was going to rebel, finally questioned, "And your compromise?" Phantom thought about it for a second and replied, "I did what I had to, to get the job done. I worked with whoever my buyer wanted me too. We fought together and that's it. No one knew my name, nor where I came from. I came back here ready to work, and that is all." Phantom then was met with another slap and her master stated, "Well, since you have the nerve to talk back to your master, I think some proper training is in order for you to relearn your place among our ranks."

She then snapped her fingers twice and two of the agents walked in. It was two large male teenagers who Phantom knew because they were the second and third most requested agents, behind Phantom. The bigger one, who stood at six seven, had very dark red hair, dark brown eyes, and many scars on his muscular face. He went by the name of Balor. Next to him, was a slightly shorter Hispanic man with less scars on his face. He had hair as black as night with black eyes to match. He went by the name of Zipacna. Both of them together had the partner name among assassins called, "The Iron Giants," on the fact that they were huge and the fact that they could put a hole in iron. Phantom just glanced at them, bowed at her master, and walked out without a fight.

They kept quiet until they led me to one of the punishment rooms. The punishment rooms were in the first basement, which led down to the catacombs below for the punished rooms. When agents were being punished, they would go to the catacombs to serve their punishments while receiving their "training." It was where the young ones were trained to become agents. Phantom was taken to a lone room with a bucket and a hanging rope. The Iron Giants told her to hold her position until the punisher came. Phantom waited in her exact spot, unwilling to move an inch until she knew the punisher would arrive, less she face more punishment. A cloaked figure came in but Phantom kept her eyes forward. "Strip," a low old masculine voice spoke. Phantom did as she was told, stripping down to her black sports bra and black bikini undies. The cloaked figure then walked in front of her and stared into the eyes as she only kept it straight against the wall. He had a weary face that has seen its own time of casualties and faults. The biggest scar was from his right jaw that ran all the way across past his eyebrow, without any hit to his eye. He had a thick white mustache and beard that reached down to his chest. His eyes looked gray, but everyone at the Guild knew he had perfect vision. He reached up to Phantom's face and grabbed her by her jaw, making her face look straight at his face, while she kept her gaze at the position where it was previously. His hands were wrinkled out and had many scars upon them from his years of doing their type of work. He let out a giant sigh and spoke, "How can you as young as you, cause so much trouble in the Guild?"

Phantom didn't show any sign of listening, so he grabbed her body and she remained motionless. He hoisted her ankles to the rope, tied her ankles, legs, arms, and hands, and hooked her hands to the bottom of the barrel so that she couldn't remove them. He grabbed to sticks that were attached to a battery and had yellow sponges on them. He pressed them against Phantom and bolts of electricity went through her body, into the water, and back up again. She held in the pain as long as she could, but then Phantom after receiving this torture for over three minutes straight let out a pain-filled screech. "Were you compromised, Phantom?" The old man questioned with no emotion. Phantom wouldn't allow herself to whimper and responded straining, "I wasn't compromised, Shinigami." The old man named Shinigami responded, quietly so that the cameras wouldn't hear, "I know." He then hit her again. Phantom's body spasm out a little, until she eventually shrilled in pain. Shinigami then stopped and whispered, "You're a threat to Apophis. That's why you're here. She knows you could take her if necessary." Shinigami then shocked her again and didn't speak for the rest of the session except for the standard questions that agents are asked when the Guild thinks they have been compromised. This process lasted for what seemed like over twelve hours to Phantom, but it only lasted for three hours. After all of the shocks and questions, Phantom's body couldn't stop shaking due to all of the wrecked nerves. Zipacna came back, carried her down to the catacombs, and placed her within her cell.

Her torture went on for about three months of intensive disciplinary retraining to be an agent that the Guild, until they trusted her again to do assignments. She was sent back out to the field around August to go to Washington. She had to kill one senator along with his corrupt haft bastard siblings. All of them were taking part of some mob type business and a woman hired her to avenge her dead husband. Phantom did her usual. Torture them for info, get names of others in the industry, decapitate them, and drop them off to her hire. It was a simple assignment and Phantom had more lined up for similar drops. Info, decapitate, deliver, all of those types of assignments were just running together for five months. Phantom stopped counting how many she killed after her seventy-third assignment.

She didn't ask questions. She never answered her phone that Tony gave her, which lucky the Guild knew nothing about, never contacted any of the Avengers, and never stopped her search for her parent's killer. She did however decided to listen to the voice messages that they left her. Each one, mostly from Steve and Tony, would tell her how life was going and to call them back to confirm that she was still alive, and they would be incredibly long due to Tony not installing a timer for voicemail. Each of the Avengers called her and she could tell what they weren't telling her by their tone of voices and how they acted when they called. When Natasha called, all she wanted was the information about the Guild. She was the most honest of all the Avengers about her intensions. Clint would tell her S.H.I.E.L.D.'s progressions and how things were going with Fury as well, as assignments she should avoid so that she wouldn't interfere with S.H.I.E.L.D., him, or Natasha. Thor, bless his soul, left letters with Tony, who read them to her before talking about his day. Thor's letters made Phantom want to smile mostly because of how normal Thor was acting after the Battle as if nothing happened, and a little due to how Tony would read them with his Shakespearean voice and snide comments. Bruce would call and tell her about his medical research, to call him back, and locations of where he stored medicine for her to find. Steve and Tony would leave her at least one voice mail a day, if not more. Steve would prattle on about new things that he was learning about the Modern Day. He was fascinated by everything such as a toddler would and that would make want to smile again, but she wouldn't allow herself. Tony was the worst of all of the Avengers. He wasn't the same after the battle. He seemed okay at first, but then his voice slowly was becoming strained and she kept hearing more and more work sounds in the background whenever he called her. He would make silly jokes that never made sense, even for his sense of humor, and confess that he really just wanted to see her. Phantom knew she couldn't, due to the Guild finding out, so she just thought that he needed his own space.

One day in December, Phantom was stationed over in Malibu for another assassination upon an ex-governor of California, so she decided to take a drive on her daytime to see the surrounding of Miami. She made a stop at a McDonalds and decided to check her voice mail again. She wanted to listen to Tony's first because she saw that his was incredibly short compared to the other times he called her and it was late at night, rather than during the day. When she connected the earbuds to the phone, instead of Tony's voice, she heard a woman's. "Hello, is… *sniff* is this Phantom?" Phantom paused for a moment. The woman seemed to be sobbing over the phone, sounding heartbroken over something. "My name is Pepper Potts… and, I'm worried about…T…Ton….Tony. He's.. he's… not sleeping and, and, and he won't… stop working. His new suit almost killed me tonight, and… and… I don't know if I can do this anymoooooore…" The woman known as Pepper continued to sob into the phone making incoherent sounds that Phantom picked up as confirming Phantom's theory that Tony is slowly losing his mind and that she doesn't know what to do. Pepper explained how Tony would talk about Phantom to her and maybe if she couldn't get to him, maybe Phantom could have. Phantom listened to the recording a few more times to try to get the full picture of what she was stating and what she was going to get herself into.

Afterwards, she decided to call out, "Jarvis, can you tell me about Stark's health since the Battle of New York? Sleep, diet, social, whatever is necessary for me to know." Then the AI reported, "Mr. Stark has had approximately 63 hours and 13 minutes of sleep. He eats one full meal a week with Miss Potts except for last night, but he eats tiny snacks throughout the day as well as fast food that is delivered to his house. The only social experiences he has is with Miss Potts, Mr. Rhodes, Mr. Happy, and you daily. Thor comes by once a week to deliver your letters. Finally, Mr. Stark works within the Iron Man Work Shop 99% of the time. He has had several anxiety attacks, and calms down when he is in the Iron Man Suit." Phantom then thought immediately, "He goes in the suit because he feels safe and secure in it. That was what he had on when he fought at New York so it make sense that he feels stronger and safer in it." Phantom let out a giant sigh and then hopped on her bike, and drove to the mansion.

"Jarvis, I need any news about Stark within the last 168 hours," Phantom spoke to the earbuds, hoping that he heard her while she was driving through traffic. The AI then told her that there were videos to be played and Phantom requested, "Can you just play the audio through my earbuds? I can't watch it while trying to drive there." The AI then set up the video's audio and played it through her earbuds: "Here's a little holiday greeting I've been wanting to send to the Mandarin. I just didn't know how to phrase it until now. My name is Tony Stark and I'm not afraid of you. I know you're a coward. So I've decided that you just died, pal. I'm gonna come get the body. There's no politics here. It's just good old-fashioned revenge. There's no Pentagon, it's just you and me. And on the off chance you're a man, here's my home address. 10880 Malibu Point. 90265. I'll leave the door unlocked." The audio kicked off and Phantom muttered out, "Dammit Stark." She then drove even faster to get to Tony's house as fast as she can while trying to get her facts straight, "Jarvis, he was talking about the Mandarin Terrorist Group, right? They haven't exactly attacked on Stark, nor did I know that they had any beef against Stark. So, what exactly did they do to piss the man off?" Jarvis then stated, "Mr. Happy was attacked by one of their members and is currently hospitalized." Phantom then let out another deep sigh and everything just made sense in that moment.

She then arrived to his house, ordered Jarvis to let her in, and walked in to see no one in the main area. She heard Tony's voice come from the downstairs and immediately went down to it. She walked down to a virtual map of the Hollywood Walk of Fame and saw Tony complete distracted by his current research of the barrage of images. She just watched him go to work on his crime scene trying to figure out who or what did this. She already had a vague idea of what this was due to her Guild's work with Mandarin and the information they provided. She then heard him ask if Jarvis has ever been to Tennessee and Jarvis reported to arranging a flight, so Phantom chose to speak up with a country accent, "I wouldn't peg you for the country star-type, Stark." Tony immediately whipped around and saw his favorite teen standing away from him with no emotions, with her hands in her short black short pockets. "PHANTOM!" Tony yelled running over to her and sweeping her in a non-returned hug, not even thinking. "IT'S BEEN FOREVER! WHEN DID YOU GET TO MALIBU, HAVE YOU BEEN GETTING MY MESSAGES, WHY HAVEN'T YOU CALLED ME BACK?!" Tony asked with no patience in his voice. He pulled her away to look into her emotionless azure eyes and she replied, "It's only been seven months, I got here this morning, yes, I've gotten all of your almost hour long messages, and I couldn't. I've been working." He was about to say something snarky back until they heard a ding from the house. "Are we still at ding-dong? We're supposed to be on total…" Tony then began to stomp his foot against the ground, "security lockdown. Come on, I threatened a terrorist. Who is that?" Jarvis tried to make up an excuse but Phantom already ran upstairs with her scythe ready and intact for whatever.

Phantom ran up to see a woman enter the house, and before she got to the living room, she snuck around the brunet woman, and place the scythe blade against her neck. "Who are you and what do you want?" Phantom questioned the intruder with venom laced in her voice. "Right there is fine," Tony stated walking up to the two women. "I got this Stark," Phantom told Tony. The woman tried to speak but Tony beat her to it, "Uh, no. My home, my protection." Tony then began to analyze the visitor, "You're not the Mandarin. Are you? Are you?" Phantom commented snidely, "Really? Yeah, Stark she is the biggest terrorist right now. She's going to kill you with her heels." The woman then shook her head, Tony made a gesture to Phantom, who led the scythe away from the woman. Phantom walked over next to Tony while the woman, who looked very relieved, smiled and stated, "You don't remember. Why am I not surprised?" Tony shot back, "Don't take it personally. I don't remember what I had for breakfast." Jarvis then informed Tony on his breakfast and that made Tony remember while Phantom stated, "Wow, I heard you've been eating nothing but fast food." The woman then looked at Phantom and stated, "Okay, look, I need to be alone with you, someplace not here. It's urgent." Tony knowing what the woman was planning stated, "Normally, I'd go for that sort of thing," Phantom gagged at the comment, "But now I'm in a committed relationship. It's…"

Two bags then dropped from above and Phantom caught them both with her right hand extended to her side as Tony continued looking up, "With her." Then the voice that Phantom heard over the phone yelled out his name. Tony came out of his suit, Phantom put down the bags, and looked over to the staircase to watch a redheaded woman come down the stair while questioning, "Is somebody there?" Tony told her, "Yes it's Maya Hansen. Old botanist pal that I used to know, barely." Then Tony pulled the intruder known as Maya over and pled quietly, "Please don't tell me there's a 12-year-old kid waiting in the car that I've never met." Maya replied, "He's 13. No, I need your help." When Tony asked what for and why, Maya replied, "Because I read the papers and frankly, I don't think you'll last the week." Tony tried to assure her but Phantom interjected, "No Stark, you're not. That's why I'm here. This woman named…" Then the redhead interrupted, "I'm sorry, with Happy in the hospital, I didn't know we were expecting guests." Phantom, who recognized the voice, stepped forward, and stated, "I got your message Miss Potts. My name is Phantom, and I've come at your request to help Stark." Peppers eyes then got teary and she immediately hugged Phantom, whose body tensed up and looked at Tony with no emotions. Tony looked completely confused by the situation, but Maya just stood there. "Wait, wait, wait. Did I miss something? Phantom, how do you know her?" Tony questioned. Before Phantom could answer, Pepper stated, "I called her to come here and help you. But now you have an old girlfriend…" and then the two began to argue with each other while Phantom analyzed her surroundings.

She watched the TV and saw something odd and then she whipped around to see a missile heading towards them. "GET DOWN!" Phantom yelled at the top of her lungs while using her newly enhanced abilities to put up an extra earth wall between where the people were and where the blast would go off. The blast went off and Tony used the suit to surround Pepper to protect her from getting hurt. Tony hit the wall, while Phantom hit the wall above his fireplace and quickly recovered back to her feet. Phantom looked outside to see three choppers coming to the house and she knew what she had to do. The ceiling began to collapse and Phantom saw Pepper protect Tony within the suit. Phantom looked outside and used her abilities to grab one of the chopper with water connecting to the ocean and drag it down. One of the other choppers fired into the house, but Phantom used her earth abilities to hold her feet to the ground. Then a hole came in the middle of the room and Tony told Pepper to get the woman Maya out while he was going to go around. After Tony took down one of the other choppers that came towards the house, Phantom grabbed Tony, knowing that if they were seen, they would have been killed on sight, shot their bodies up to the sky and flew at a speed just to get away from the terrorist.

She flew until nightfall and eventually used up her energy to the point where she pasted out mid-flight while Tony took over for the landing, holding her in her in his arms as he fell on his back. "It's snowing, right? Where are we, upstate?" Jarvis told him their location, Tony got upset, questioned, Jarvis told him about the flight plan, and Tony was just confused on the situation. He gently placed Phantom next to him and stated, "Open the suit." The suit opened and Tony realized how cold it was in Tennessee around Christmas. Tony thought about going back in the suit until Jarvis powered down too. Tony realizing his situation began to shake Phantom stating, "Phantom, wake up. Don't leave me again." Phantom mumbled for a minute, rolled her body over, and began to eat the snow beneath her face. After a minute of doing so, she moved her body a little to consume some more, and more, until finally she was able to fully stand on her own. "Sorry about that, I just needed some energy. That was a long flight. Where are we? I flew as far as I could in the direction that Jarvis needed," Phantom asked while noting her surroundings. Stark just stood up, put a rope around his suit and began to walk towards the city lights. Phantom just followed behind him.

"So, you gonna tell me what's been going on these past few months, or am I supposed to guess?" Phantom questioned with no emotion while they were walking. "I don't know what you're talking about," Tony lied while walking. "The 63 hours of sleep within 7 months, the constant snacking rather than full meals, the nonstop building of suits, need I continue?" Phantom stated his health progress report. Tony stopped and Phantom continued, "I know you have PTSD and you wear your suits to feel safe and secure. I do the same thing, but with my face mask. It's a normal response to traumatic experiences." Tony turned and bargained, "Your story for mine?"

Phantom, knowing that Tony needed to hear a sad story to relay his, decide to tell him her story, "There was scientist and his wife, and she was beautiful. A foolish scientist and his wife, she and their children were his life. And they were beautiful, and they were virtuous, but they were naïve. There was one child who saw their naïveté. A pious, vulture against the law. Who with a gesture's call removed the sister from her place. Then there was nothing, but to wait. And they would fall so soft, so young, so lost, and oh so naïve." Tony then put his arms around Phantom, and questioned, "And the daughter? What happened to her?" Phantom then continued, "That was many years ago. I doubt if, anyone would know." Tony just shook from emotions and stated, "Phantom, was the daughter you? What happened to your brother? Your parents?" Phantom just was quiet and she stated, "My brother killed my parents. Then I killed my brother in retribution. Afterwards, I joined the Guild to find out who convinced my brother to kill my parents. That's my story. Yours?" Tony told her, "I keep feeling like the aliens are going to come back and we will be going to war again. I keep seeing the ship from the wormhole and thinking that there are more than that for another battle. I'm worried that once I let my guard down, that the invasion will continued." Phantom then put her arms around Tony and stated, "Stark, you can't let fear dictate your life. If you do that, you'll never be able to thrive or to live. Think of Pepper, think of the Avengers, think of yourself. Freaking out over what ifs, that's not you. You are Anthony Edward Stark, genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist. God of Style, King of Swagger, Dictator of Sass. You are a force of nature and if you ever, EVER, need to be reminded of that, I'll be there to slap some sense into you and get you back on your bitch feet, understand?" Tony let out a small laugh, nodded, and stated, "You haven't changed a bit. Is that how you live life?" Phantom remained quiet, knowing how exactly she has been living the past couple of months, in the same emotion that Tony had: fear. His fear made him stay up and not sleep just like hers did when she was younger, but now she just tries to keep moving forward.

After their embrace, she and Tony continued their march back to civilization. During the time Tony kept asking Phantom questions, "Sooo… have you kept touch with anyone?" Phantom, knowing that Tony was a jealous child, answered, "Oh yeah. Romanoff and I constantly talked about Celebrity man crushes while braiding each other's hair. Legolas and I had a Lord of the Rings marathon, of which he kept pointing out why Orlando Bloom isn't a fit archer. Bruce and I had some nice whiskey while talking shit about how anger is effective. Thor and I would fly in the skies singing "A Whole New World," with me explaining why it was a mag carpet making them fly. Steve and I went out clubbing at least once a month and I would have had to drag him off of some desperate woman. How many suits have you made?" Tony began to laugh at Phantom's sassy comeback. "Sounds like some fun times. I made 42 different models." Phantom raised her eyebrow and stated, "Ugh, that seems extensive. Can you make me a pair of boots with gloves, a breathing oxygen mask, a watch, a new com, and do some electric work on my scythe?" Tony got all bright eyed and stated, "YES!" Phantom, knowing that this helped Tony a little bit, smiled at his happy eyes. The rest of the time they walked, Tony would just continuously talk about what all new inventions he was creating for Stark Industries. When Tony got tired, Phantom took the line and dragged it the rest of the way.

After a few moments of walking they made it to a Texaco Gas Station. Tony went over to the American Indian statue and took the poncho to warm himself. He looked at Phantom who only wore her standard black turtleneck that cut off below her chest and her standard black short shorts. "Aren't you cold," Tony questioned the young mercenary. "Stark, I had to be in my underwear while lying in the snow during the Alaskan Winters. I think I'll be okay," Phantom reassured the billionaire. Tony went into the phone booth, which Phantom was surprised was still around, and called Pepper to relay his message: "Pepper, it's me. I've got a lot of apologies to make and not a lot of time. So… First off, I'm so sorry I put you in harm's way. That was selfish and stupid, and it won't happen again. Also, it's Christmastime and the rabbit's too big. Done. Sorry. And I'm sorry in advance because I can't come home yet. I need to find this guy. You gotta stay safe, that's all I know. I just stole a poncho from a wooden Indian. Phantom is with me and she is safe, a little damaged, but she's a trooper and will be okay." The line then cut out. Phantom was leaning against the booth outside fully listening to Stark's phone call.

He went over to the suit to continue their walk for shelter, Phantom unstrapped the scythe from her back, handed it to Tony, hoisted the suit onto her shoulders, and began to walk with Tony following her. "Holy shit, this is fucking heavy. You swing it like it's a damn stick. How fucking strong are you?" Tony complained while straining with the scythe. He looked at her physical body, her arms were tone, but they didn't bulge out like a weight lifter. He could tell that she definitely grew since the Battle, but he didn't want to push that issue. "Stark, I'm carrying your fucking suit without any problems. Trust me, that scythe is nothing compared on how much I have to lift with my work." With that they continued on their walk when Phantom began to explain, "You know you can't keep that promise with, Pepper, was it?" Tony asked her what she was talking about, so she explained, "You can't have a normal life and still be known hero without consequences. Think about it, how many times have you had someone come after you since you've come out as Iron Man? Pepper is a walking target to get to you. She will never be safe. That is just a fact; trust me. I had to do revenge assignments against targets just to cause someone grief. I'm sorry, but normalcy and heroics don't go together." Tony remained quiet for the rest of the walk, but deeply thought about what she told him.

They eventually made it to a house in the country with a large, locked garage. Phantom kicked the door open while still having the suit on her shoulders. They went inside, and Phantom placed it onto a soft non-leather couch. Phantom walked over to Tony snatched her scythe, and placed it onto a table. Tony took off his poncho and left it outside. Tony sat down next to the suit, and finally noticed that Phantom had blood on her shoulders. "The suit must have scrapped her up as she carried it here," Tony thought to himself. Tony looked over to the suit, made it look forward, as if it was a person. "Stark, you need to get cleaned up. You got dry blood on you," Phantom stated nonchalantly. Choosing to listening to her, Tony went over to the table and began to take out some of the glass in his arm.

Some little boy then walked in and told them to freeze. Phantom just raised her eyebrow at the kid while Tony, who had a similar look in his eyes, just looked at the boy. The boy threatened them both not to move, and Phantom, seeing no threat, began to laugh at the child while Tony held up his arms saying, "You got us. Nice potato gun. Barrel's a little long. Between that and the wide gauge it's gonna diminish your FPS." The kid fired it at a glass bottle to prove his point, while Tony replied, "And now you're out of ammo." Phantom took a step forward to get the gun from the kid and the child had another potato and fired it at her. She just caught it without any other thought and the kid looked immediately scared of her while she stated, "Nice try, kid. Trust me. This won't do a thing to someone like me." She grabbed the gun from the kid and he asked Tony, "What's that thing on your chest?" Tony explained to him what it was and the kid just asked what it powered and Tony showed him the suit. The kid immediately knew exactly who both of them were and explained, "Oh, my god. That… that's… is that Iron Man?" Tony explained, "Technically, I am." The kid handed Tony the newspaper and stated, "Technically, you're dead." The head stated that the Mandarian killed Tony, and Phantom watched over the boy who was checking out the suit. The kid asked what happened to it and Tony answered, "I built him. I take care of him. I'll fix him." Him and the child then began to build ideas off of each other. The boy then ripped one of the fingers off and Tony got upset, "Not a good idea. What are you doing? You're gonna break his finger? He's in pain. He's been injured. Leave him alone." The boy apologized and Phantom, not being the sentimental type, questioned, "Why are we acting like the suit is your child?" Tony looked at her like she was offended and responded, "He is one of my children. Except I don't have to feed him, bathe him, or dress him." Phantom wanting to be an ass replied, "Technically, you do. You wash dirt off them, you do need to charge, or feed them. And they dress you." The boy then began to laugh at their interaction.

Tony then decided to ask the young boy playing with the broken fingers, "So, uh, who's home?" He explained the situation, along with telling Phantom and Tony that his dad left their family. Tony, not knowing how to respond, states, "Which happens. Dads leave. No need to be a pussy about it." Phantom then knocked Tony in the back of the head, which made him yelp out and ask why she did that. "No need to be a pussy about it," Phantom shot back at him with an intense glare in her eyes. Tony then turned to the child and stated, "Here's what I need. A laptop, a digital watch, a cell phone, the pneumatic actuator from your bazooka over there, a map of town, a big spring, and a tuna fish sandwich." Phantom then hit Tony on the head again and stated, "Stark, he's a kid. I can get you that damn shit, but first you need to thank the kid for putting us up." Tony then muttered thanks and the child asked, "What's in it for me?" Tony presented the boy with a weapon and Phantom was about to hit him again, until the boy took it accepting Tony's deal. Phantom was at her wits end until Tony asked, "What's your name?" The boy told them his name was Harley and he asked about theirs. Tony answered, "The mechanic. Tony." The boy then looked at Phantom and stated, "I already know you. A lot of girls at my school look up to you. You're Ghost, right?" Tony snorted at the boy and Phantom corrected, "It's Phantom. Right idea, just wrong name." Tony then stated, "You know what keeps going through my head? "Where's my sandwich?"" Phantom who was happily irritated by the man stated, "I will make your damn sandwich, Stark. Just give me a minute. Mind walking me to the kitchen, Harley?" The little boy got up and took her inside his house.

While they both were inside, Phantom took out the bread, a tuna can, mayo, an onion, sweet relish, eggs, American cheddar cheese slices, tomato soup cans, a tomato, jalapenos, and two boiling pots. She began to boil the eggs, while dicing up the onion, and the boy asked, "Why doesn't anyone know much about you like the other Avengers, Miss Phantom?" Phantom didn't even turn around, but answered, "It's just Phantom. No formalities please. I'm not an Avenger. I worked with them during the Battle of New York, that's it. I'm a hired professional, therefore I go where I'm paid. I'm not a hero, I'm a mercenary. Do you want a sandwich too? I'm gonna make some tomato soup with grilled cheese, if you want that instead." The boy agreed to the soup and grilled cheese. "You want your grilled cheese spicy or normal?" The boy was confused by the questioned and answered, "Spicy?" Phantom smiled underneath her mask and stated, "I'll make you both. This way if you don't like the spicy, you will have an alternate." While the eggs were still boiling, she put the can of soup into the other pot, and began to slice the tomato into thinly sliced pieces and chopped ones, while the pepper and jalapeno were chopped. She took out the skillet, spread a giant slab of margarine onto the outside of five bread slices, and placed the bread onto the cooking skillet. After a moment of stirring the soup, she put the cheddar cheese on the cooking bread, and then put the chopped onions, jalapenos, and tomatoes on top of four of five in processed grilled cheese. She then put another slice of cheddar cheese on top of all the sandwiches, waited while stirring the soup, and put the other margarine spread bread to finish it off and she flipped all of the sandwiches to the other side, showing that one side was completely cooked. While those cooked, she used the time to work on the haft way cooked Campbell's Tomato Soup. She added some diced tomatoes, a bit of the cream from the fridge, and some of the basil leaves that was inside the cabinet. The boy heard Phantom sniff, and she took out three plates and put two of the spicy sandwiches onto one plate, one plain and one spice onto the other, and one spicy on the final one. She quickly cut the sandwiches in haft, and went back to finishing the soup. She took off the soup and poured out three bowls and put some shredded cheddar cheese on top with a single basil leaf on each bowl. She went over to the eggs, drained the water, and peeled the eggs without hesitation. "Isn't that burning your fingers," Harley asked her with concern. Phantom just kept going and quoted, "If I touch a burning candle, I can feel no pain. In the ice or in the sun, it's all the same." She finished the peeling and she quickly chopped up the eggs, two out two slices of bread, spread the tuna along both side, put a light spread of mayo on one side, and the onion and sweet relish on the other. She finished Tony's sandwich and cut it in haft and placed it next to the spicy grilled cheese.

She then gave Harley his tomato soup and grilled cheese, smiled sweetly, and suggested, "Harley, why don't you go out to go get Mr. Stark and tell him to come inside and eat?" Harley nodded and went out to get Tony. Phantom watched him go, and then when she found the coast clear, she went out the frontdoor and made a call to one of her colleagues from the Guild on her burner cell. After a couple of rings, a young male with a lighter voice answered, "Hello." Phantom feeling a little off about the pleasant greeting, stated, "Shouldn't you wait for the person to state their business, then do the standard riddle, and then the pleasantries?" The boy was immediately excited over the phone yelled, "PHANTOM, YOU'RE ALIVE!" Phantom felt offended and questioned, "Yeah, why wouldn't I be?" The male voice on the other side was quiet for a moment and then stated, "You didn't report in. The governors house was found burned to the ground with his head missing, but no one heard from you. Master knew you were alive, but she is pissed. She stated that as soon as you come back, you will go back to punishment or possibly worse." Phantom was tired of living by that woman's way. She was the most sought after agent within the Guild and Phantom had a guaranteed success policy, unlike some of the other agents. She made the most money on assignments, and yet it was never enough for the greedy bitch. Phantom exhaled an agitated sigh and stated, "I'll do what I can." The boy on the other side remained quiet and stated, "There's no way you will get out alive." Phantom feeling sad by his proclamation, knowing that it meant no, replied, "So this is it. I'll see you around." The boy then tried to get her to listen, but she just hung up the phone and went back inside. Little did she know, Tony was leaning against the back wall with the window open a little to listen to her conversation.

Tony looked at her with a knowing look and questioned, "You're leaving your guild?" Phantom nodded and stated bluntly, "I've been compromised." She then went back into the kitchen and presumed to eat the meal she prepared. She undid the latch on the lower part of her mask to make it loose and able to eat while concealing her identity. Tony came in a little later, sat down, and looked at his dish. "I thought I stated that I wanted a tuna sandwich," he stated confused. Phantom knew he was only trying to lighten the mood, so she replied, "And I made you one. I also had you a spicy grill cheese with tomato soup, because it's cold outside and we walking in that snow for over thirty minutes. You need to warm up a bit and so does Harley." Tony smiled because he knew deep down that Phantom actually really cared. She came to see him after hearing that he wasn't acting right, she protected him from his house being destroyed, and with trying to get him to eat more than a sandwich to get up his appetite. He inhaled the scent of the food and it reminded him of when his nanny made him special food for different weather situations. He ate his tuna fish sandwich first and noted, "You didn't put celery in it, but some hot sauce?" Phantom replied with eating her grill cheese, "They didn't have celery, and that is how someone I knew always prepared it. A dash of hot sauce, 3 boiled eggs, and I switched the celery for onions and sweet relish. It adds more flavor to it." Tony note that it taste better than any other tuna sandwich he ever had, but he wouldn't admit it to her. He finished it and grabbed haft of the "grill cheese." He examined it and stated, "This isn't a normal grill cheese." Phantom stated bluntly, "No it is not. It is a "spicy" grill cheese. Just dip it within the tomato soup and try it. I think you'll like it." Tony did what she required and the soup and sandwich were different from any other grill cheese and tomato soup he ever had. The sandwich was indeed spicy, but the cheese from the tomato soup and sandwich balance it out. The tomato soup was softer and creamier than normal, but it coated the sandwich really well and with the extra shredded cheese that melded slowly on top, made it have a nicer feel and taste to it. Phantom observing Tony questioned cocky, "Good?" Tony blushed, turned away from her teasing gaze, and replied, "It's alright." She wanted to laugh at his expression, but she chose to conceal her emotions and just kept eating. Tony waited a moment until he felt himself about to explode and questioned, "Do you really eat with that thing still on? You just undo the flap at the bottom, keep the top on to keep your identity a secret, and eat?" Phantom only stated, "Yep. What about yours, Harley?" Phantom asked the young child who was sitting quietly eating. "It's really good, Phantom. Maybe you could teach my mom how to make it," Phantom smiled at him and stated, "I'll write down the recipe."

After Phantom finished eating, she wiped her mouth with a napkin, re-latched the mask at the bottom, picked up her dishes, and went to clean. She took off the shackles that remained on her wrist, so that way they would not get all sudsy with the dish bubbles. She allowed the dishes to soak with very hot dish water, and went into the dinning room. She grabbed the empty plates and was about to go back to the kitchen when the young child spoke up, "Wait Phantom. You don't have to do the dishes. I can do them." Phantom shook her head the young child and stated, "No we're your guest. Besides, I made the mess, so I'll clean it up. You need to finish eating your soup. After I finish cleaning, we'll go to town, get Mr. Starks supplies, and I'll get your mom the ingredients I used for the meal today, okay?" She then went into the kitchen and presumed to clean the dishes. While eating, Tony was about to ask the child about his mom, until he heard a female sing from the kitchen acapella:

[Phantom: There are few who deny at what I do

I am the best

For my talents are renowned far and wide

When it comes to surprises in lit night

I excel without ever even trying

With the slightest little effort of my ghost like charm

I have seen grown men give out a shriek

With a wave of my hand and full place moan

I have swept the very bravest off their feet

Yet, year after year,

It's the same routine

And I've grown so weary of the sound of screams

And I, Phantom, the mercenary queen

Have grown so tired of the same old thing]

"She has such a mature voice. With the way she speaks, you wouldn't think of it as rich as her singing voice is," Tony thought to himself. Tony then heard the water go off from the kitchen as Phantom continued:

[Phantom: Oh some where deep inside of these bones

An emptiness began to grow

There's something out there far from my home

A longing that I've never known]

The water then stopped and there was the light squeak against the plates as if Phantom was hand drying the dishes.

[Phantom: I'm the master of fright

And a demon against light

And I'll scare right out of your pants

To a guy in Kentucky

I'm Miss Unlucky

And I'm known throughout England and France

And since I am dead

I will take off your head

To recite Shakespearean Quotations

No manner or man can scream like I can

With the fury of my recitations]

The squeaking stopped and Tony saw Phantom walk in. "You boys done?" Phantom asked nonchalantly. The boys both nodded their heads, and she took their bowls to the kitchen and presumed to clean and sing:

[Phantom: But who here could ever understand

That the mercenary queen with a skeleton grin

Would grow tired of her crown

If they only understood

She'd give it all up, if she only could

Oh, there's an empty place in my bones

That calls out for something unknown

The fame and praise come year after year

Does nothing for these empty tears]

She then came in and asked, "You boys ready to go?" They both nodded and Phantom immediately took one of the cars that didn't look like it was within use for the rest of the evening. It was unlocked and it made Phantom upset because she kept pointing out why exactly they shouldn't leave their cars unlocked. She went inside, hotwired, and drove the boys into town.


	4. Iron Man 3: 2

Phantom took Tony into a pawn shop and bought a spring for only 5 cents. Tony tried to complain that it was too rusty, but Phantom told him to be grateful that they found one. "I'll take us over to a Walmart in a bit. Let's just walk around for a minute to see what we can find," Phantom told the boys. Harley tried to give Tony a little Dora the Explorer watch that made Phantom wan to die of laughter. "When are we gonna talk about New York," Harley asked the two Avengers. "Maybe never. Relax about it," Tony answered quickly. Phantom knew that he really didn't want to relive those memories. "What about the Avengers? Can we talk about them?" Tony feeling that the child was intruding on his space stated, "I dunno. Later. Hey, kid, give me a little space." Phantom put her hand on Harley's shoulder and stated, "When Tony goes to work, I'll tell you about some of the Avengers, okay?" Tony then noticed a demolished area with a gravesite placed. "What's the official story here? What happened?" Harley told Phantom and Tony the story of a Chad Davis and how he blew something up. Phantom kneeled down at the walls to see the actual story rather than the rumor. Phantom noticed only five body scorches with five burial sites. She found some powder, probably from the ashes that came off the people, and put them into a lunch bag that she had on hand. "I'll send this to the doc. He might be able to get me some chemical assessments," Phantom thought to herself. She heard Tony talk to Harley about how this crime scene and the story didn't make sense. Harley said that the shadows were the souls ascending to heaven while Chad's wasn't due to going to hell. Tony asked him if he believed it and Harley only replied, "That's what everyone says." Phantom immediately thought of a comeback that her own mother would tell her when she was a kid. "If everyone jumped off a bridge, would you do it?"

Phantom then walked to the crater and started to collect some more samples when she heard Harley try to talk to Tony about the wormhole in New York. Phantom saw Tony's paranoia come through when Harley kept asking questions. Tony ran to the stop sign and dropped to sit down. Phantom ran to him, kneeled down in front of him, grabbed both sides of his face to look at hers, leaned her forehead against his, and begged while trying to calm him down, "Tony, Tony, Tony. Look at, look at, LOOK AT ME! I'm okay, you're okay, we're okay, okay? No more fighting. We're not in danger, okay? Look it's nighttime and the snow is falling gently. Calm down. Just breathe. I just… I just need you to calm down Tony. Please." Tony gazed into her eyes and saw that they were a bright purple with concern instead of their usual stoic azure. He felt himself calm down instantly. He reached up and grabbed her hands that were grabbing his face. "Her hands are so tiny and cold. Her eyes… is she really that concerned about me?" Tony thought to himself. Tony took a minute to calm himself down, nodded his head at Phantom to let her know he was okay, she let go, and he grabbed some snow to form a snowball, and threw it at Harley. "You fault. You spazzed me out." Phantom smiled to see Tony starting to come back from his panic attack. He put on his hat and questioned, "Okay, back to business. Where were we? The guy who died. Relatives? Mom? Mrs. Davis, where is she?" Harley didn't want to let the moment go, but he knew that wasn't the time to bring up the questions again. He went along with Tony and stated, "Where she always is."

* * *

Harley told them that she was at a bar. Phantom made Harley go wait inside of the car, while she and Tony went into the bar, and tried to create little to no attention to themselves. Tony bumped into a lady before they even got in and Tony helped her to get her gloves back. The short red headed lady walked up to them and Tony and Phantom noticed the scars on her face. "Nice haircut, it suits you," Tony stated trying to cover up the fact that both he and Phantom were analyzing the scar. The lady knowing that they were staring came back with, "Nice watch." Tony and the woman shared a friendly little banter that made Phantom want to gag. When she and Tony walked into the bar, Phantom questioned, "You have to flirt with every female, don't you?" Tony smirked at her and stated, "Eh. It sort of just happens." Phantom and Tony went through the crowds very carefully to not attract attention. They went to a table in the back with a blonde older woman who looked very upset and to be drowning her problems with alcohol while playing with a dog tag. Tony went over to the bar, ordered three glasses of scotch with money that Phantom gave him, and walked with Phantom over to the woman while giving her a glass.

"Mrs. Davis? Mind if we join you?" Tony asked to the older woman. The woman looked at both of them and stated, "Free country." Phantom and Tony sat down while Tony stated, "Sure is." The woman, seeming to know what the duo were going to ask, questioned, "Where would you like to start?" Tony didn't want this conversation to go south, so he decided to be nice and say, "I just want to say, I'm sorry about your loss. I want to know what you think happened." The woman was really irritated, pulled out the file, and growled, "Look, I brought your damn file. You take it, go. Whatever was in here, he wanted no part of it." Tony opened the file to look into it while Phantom stated, "Clearly, you're waiting for someone else. Huh? Supposed to meet someone here?" The woman looked at Phantom with worry deep within her eyes. Tony looked at the woman and stated, "Mrs. Davis, your son didn't kill himself. I guarantee you, he didn't kill anyone. Someone used him." The woman looked really confused and stated, "As a weapon." The woman then looked really sad and scared, "You're not the person that called me after all, are you?" Phantom pulled out her gun in a split second and pointed it at a woman who slammed a badge onto the table. "Walk away or eat lead. The choice is entirely yours," Phantom threatened the woman who she saw earlier. "You saw me coming?" The woman questioned Phantom. "I know your face. You tried tracing me a while back. Hard to forget a face I scarred with an arm I chopped off. I got punished for not killing you the first time. I won't make that mistake twice if you get in my way." The sheriff then came up to the group saw Phantom's gun and asked, "What's going on here?" The woman tried to put cuffs on Tony while saying it was an arrest, but Phantom fired a warning shot near the woman's head to make a clean cut on her face. "That's my final warning. Walk. Away," Phantom threatened with a little more force to get her point across. The woman and the sheriff tried to have a convo when Phantom slipped the file underneath a stool with the woman distracted and signaled for her and Tony to get away while Mrs. Davis went in her own direction. When Phantom saw the woman supercharge her hand, she knew she had to get Tony the hell out of there. "STARK RUN!" Phantom yelled while pushing him out.

When they got outside they saw Chad Davis approaching them and Phantom shouted, "You gotta be shitting me?" She and Tony began to run in the opposite direction and before the man could fire his gun, a snowball hit him to make him stop. Phantom threw Tony into a diner, then open fired at the deadly woman approaching them. Even with three shots to the head, the woman was still approaching her. "REALLY?!" Phantom yelled. She then went into combat mode and tried to break the woman's neck, but that wasn't working either. Eventually Tony looked up to see Phantom drive her right fist into the woman's chest and Phantom pulled out the heart, but the woman didn't go down. "Shit," Phantom said realizing that the blood of the woman was burning her arm like acid, and the woman hit her down the road and went inside to get Tony. Tony and the woman went at it until Tony decided to make his own bomb using the microwave and a dog tag. "You walked right into this one. I dated hotter chicks than you," Tony warned jokingly. The woman who was burned a little exclaimed, "That's all you got? A cheap trick and a cheesy one-liner?" Tony added the gas, ran out while stating, "Sweetheart, that could be the name of my autobiography."

Phantom finally recovering from the woman's hit, saw the water tower come down, so she created an orb of ice from the surrounding snow to protect her from the damage coming. Phantom melted the ice and just sat there breathing heavily as the blood continued to burn her. Tony grabbed the file and the man's keys, approached Phantom, and saw that she wasn't getting up. He immediately felt concerned, "Phantom. Kid, what's going on?" He looked to where she was grabbing and immediately saw the burning arm. He saw that she was struggling to keep her composure, but that the blood was really hurting her. "Stark, I need a pond, lake, river. Something. Now," Phantom explained while breathing deeply. Tony put the file down, picked her up, and placed her into the passenger seat while she was holding her arm. Harley came up to him while Tony grabbed the file and walked to the car. Phantom watched as Tony and the young boy talked, but she couldn't listen to the conversation. She was only concerned with keeping the blood at bay until she reached a large area of water. Tony left Harley there while trying to find a lake. "Why exactly do you need a pond and not a hospital?" He heard Phantom breathing heavily and glanced over to see her eyes were shifting in different shades of blue with a little red, concentrating to the injured arm. He managed to find one, but Phantom wasn't getting out.

He ran out of his side, took her out, and placed her into the frigid waters. He saw her shiver for a moment until she put her arm into the water and her breathing began to calm down. Tony looked at what was happening and saw little streams within the water surrounding the burnt arm and repairing the damage. He watched as the skin rebuilt itself before his very eyes. He glance over to Phantom's eyes and saw that they were a glowing azure. When she finished, Tony saw that Phantom had some scarred up skin, but nothing that would draw attention to it. He saw Phantom finally relax after being in the water for twenty minutes, fell back into the shallow waters and just laid there while breathing calmly. "God, that hurt," Phantom exhaled while just trying to relax. After a minute or two of relax, she flipped herself over, and began to drink the lake water. Tony felt immediately disgusted and shouted, "EWWW! STOP! WE'LL GO BUY YOU SOME WATER!" Phantom raised her head for a moment and countered, "Lake water has more nutrients. Therefore, better for MY energy recovery." She then went to drinking the lake. After ten minutes of drinking, Phantom finally was able to restand up. She went got out of the water and went over to Tony who still looked really disgusted at her. "What? I needed water and nutrients so gain my energy back. It's natural water, so therefore, it is good for me. Now, let's go." Phantom went to the car, but Tony wouldn't let her in. When she tried to open the car door, she realized that it was locked. "Tony would you please let me in," Phantom asked him. Tony shook his head and stated, "Not until you dry yourself off." Phantom used her abilities and had the water cover onto the ground rather than her. When the final water drops landed on the ground, she turned to him and stated, "Good?" Tony let her in and then drove out.

* * *

He drove them out to Walmart and Phantom stated, "Stay in the car. You need to have low profile at the moment. I will buy you some clothes, the groceries, the laptop, the digital watch, a burner cell, and the map of town. I'll leave the car on then we'll go get gas, got it?" Phantom explained. "And how exactly do you plan on paying for this?" Tony asked her with attitude. Phantom reached down her shirt, towards her chest, and pulled out a metal wallet. "Unlike you, Stark, I'm always prepared with over $5000 in cash on me at all times." She then shut the door, signaled him to lock it, and went into Walmart. It only took her 30 minutes and she walked out with all of the supplies. Tony noticed that she had on a light black jacket, a long sleeved black shirt with a turtle neck, some blue jeans, black boots, and a black knit scarf covering her face and hair. While she loaded the stuff in the stuff in the trunk, Tony questioned, "I wonder how she was able to pay for all that by herself. They should have had some suspicions about it." Phantom entered the car and that's when Tony asked his queries, "How did you get all that stuff by yourself? Wasn't somebody suspicious of you?" Phantom answered, "An old woman saw my clothing and bought some clothes for me, even when I protested. She wanted me to throw out my mask. She got all black clothing and this knit scarf that she was going to give to her deadbeat daughter who she stated was a whore. I changed into the dressing room, thanked the woman, while slipping a fifty into her purse when she only paid twenty. I then went to the back and stated that I need the Stark laptop, Starkwatch, and a Starkphone with a prepaid card. They asked who it was for and I lied and told them for my kids. They didn't question it, but I had to pay them upfront for everything, which cost me over $1000, Stark. I then went over and bought a lot of food and drinks and clothing that I think you would like."

While Tony drove them, Phantom sat in the passenger seat eating what seemed to be her third bag of baby carrots. Tony lifted his eyebrow and questioned, "Does this happen to you every time you use your abilities?" Phantom just kept eating and responded, "Not this bad. Most of the time, it's less food and more water, but I think since I didn't my original ability, that is why I need more food." He glanced at her while driving and asked, "So are you going to tell me about your powers?" Phantom stopped eating for moment, paused, sighed, put the bad down, and responded, "You deserve that much. I was born with a mutation in my genetics, like my father before me. Our mutation is kinetic, therefore we are more intelligent than the common population, that's why I'm really smart and know how to do so much, and knew about Selvig's research. Both of us had Hydrokinetic abilities, such as Hydrokinetic construction, pressure and water manipulation, viscosity, purification, and when trained enough, water generation. My father greatly taught himself what all he could have done before he had children. When he met my mother, he was an aspiring Mutant Genome Biologist, one of the best in the world, actually. I showed signs of having his abilities at a very young age, so he taught me how to use them before he passed. After my family passed, the guild used his research and manipulated my X-Gene. I should have died, multiple times according to my father's research, but I lived. Now my X-Gene is altered, so I've been given other kinetic abilities, such as Pyro, Aero, Geo, and Mento. Each have their benefits, but also a price. Mainly, either my metabolism or, in theory, my lifespan. I really don't know which though. Hydro, Pyro, Aero, and Geo are pretty self-explanatory, but Mento is different. It's like being a psychic and seeing your thoughts, memories, and dreams, but it gives me the abilities to alter your mind and your body. I can send calming thoughts into your brain like I did when you were having the panic attack, or I can make you feel so paranoid that you'll just kill yourself. The Hydro has a sub-ability to manipulate blood, which can make me stop your heart along with suffocating your mind. It's hard to explain how far my powers can go, because I don't even know, but I can tell you some of things I do know. Okay, you good?"

Tony nodded his head, and she went back to eating. He chose to the use the phone that Phantom got him and made a call to one of his oldest fan/friend when he discovered the file said AIM. Phantom grabbed the phone and put it on speaker so that she could hear. The phone rang three times until they heard a hello. Tony made his opening statement, "You ever have a chick straddling you and you look up and suddenly she's glowing from the inside out, kind of a bright orange?" Phantom couldn't contain her laugh, and stated, "Of fucking course, you open with that!" The guy on the other end stated, "Yeah, I've had that. Who is this?" Phantom kept on laughing at the response. Tony shushed her and stated, "It's me, pal. Now, last time I went missing, if I remember correctly, you came looking for me. What are you doing?" Phantom kept laughing at the men while his friend responded, "A little knock-and-talk, making friends in Pakistan. What are you doing?" Phantom just kept laughing, "Stop. I'm gonna pee." Tony turned to her quickly and stated, "NOT IN THIS CAR YOU'RE NOT!" That made her die even more from laughing. "Your redesign, your big rebrand, that was AIM, right?" Tony asked the man over the phone who responded with a yeah. Tony crimpled up the paper and stated, "I'm gonna find a heavy-duty comm sat right now, I need your login." The man told him that is was "WarMachine68" and when Tony asked for his password, the man replied, "Well, look, I gotta change it every time you hack in, Tony." Tony was not having that as an answer, so he countered, "It's not the '80s, nobody says "hack" anymore. Give me your login." Phantom just kept laughing while trying to say, "But you said hack earlier." The man gave him the password, which made both Tony and Phantom laugh. "So who's the girl?" Phantom realizing how much she laughed, introduced herself, "Hi. Phantom here." The man was quiet for a second until he asked, "Is that…" Tony finished the question by replying, "Yes, the famous mercenary from New York. We gotta go, see you Rhodey."

Tony then did a U-turn, drove them over to where a pageant was being held, and went inside with of one of the vans while Phantom followed with a large bag of grapes behind him. She kept eating the grapes while Tony checked out the internet speed. Phantom watched the TV and saw an old man give a score of ten and she questioned, "Why do I feel like I know that old man?" The door opened to one of the TV men deciding to come into the van. He seemed to begin with asking them to leave, until Tony turned around and shushed him. The man got really excited and said, "Mom, I need to call you back. Something magical is happening." Phantom then began to laugh again while the man started to go fangirl on Tony. The man came into the van with Tony's permission, while Phantom just kept laughing at the fanboy and Tony's reaction to the interaction. After Tony told him why they were there, Phantom obtained her normal stoic expression and got down to business. When Tony said, "Tony need Gary," Phantom wanted to lose her cool by laughing so bad, but she didn't allow herself. When Tony got access to the program, he began to watch the videos of AIM, and when Phantom heard, "human evolution" she stated quietly, "No. That would be the mutants, and trust me, you don't want those kinds of problems." They continued to watch the experimentation of the people who were succumbed to a drug, and saw the true explosion done to that town. Tony seemed to be talking to the man through the screen, which made Phantom raise her eyebrow at him. Phantom glanced at her phone, saw the newsfeed, put her hand on his shoulder, and stated, "Stark, we gotta go. Now."

* * *

She and Tony got into the car and they went back to driving. Tony talked on the phone to his AI, when he heard Miami, he wanted to rebut the system, but Phantom stopped him, "Stark. The Mandarin is in Miami. At least, one of the head agents is. We need to go to Florida." Tony looked at her with an exasperated expression, he thought to ask her about it later, until he asked about his suit, and Harley told him that it wasn't charging. Tony then stopped the car, even with the top speed, which caused Phantom to brace herself. Tony was having a fight with his AI and Phantom saw his anxiety skyrocketing again, so she unbuckled herself, straddled herself on Tony to keep him in the car, put her hands on his cheeks while stroking them with her thumb, leaned her forehead against his, sent calming thoughts into his brain, and proclaimed, "You're okay. I'm okay, and you're okay. Tony, I need you to just breathe. Calm yourself down, okay. We're not in New York anymore. We're safe, and you're going to be fine. Please, I need you to breathe, okay, Tony?" Tony started to calm down again when Harley suggested to Tony that he could just build something, and when Phantom saw an idea pop into Tony's head, she smiled, kissed his forehead, and went back into her seat. Tony started up the car again, and began to drive to the nearest hardware store. "Did you just use your abilities to calm me down?" Tony asked Phantom while driving. Phantom smiled beneath her mask and stated, "That's what my mom did to my dad when he had his anxiety attacks. She would lean her forehead against his and make him feel safe and secure. Using my abilities to transfer calming emotions is just a plus." Tony nodded his head and asked, "And this kiss?" She smirked at him and said, "It always made my dad feel better."

Tony smiled at her, went to the hardware store and began to build his homemade weaponry. On the drive to a motel, Tony questioned, "How exactly do you know so much about the Mandarin?" Tony finally decided to ask the young agent. She remained quiet for a moment, "My guild has done assignments for them in the past. I remember the mansion I delivered the packages to, usually standard procedure. Kill who they want, or whoever gets in the way, get the info, deliver the merchandise, then head back." Tony thought about what she just stated and asked, "So, you can't leave any trace of you behind?" Phantom fearing where exactly he was going replied, "That is a requirement for us." Tony finally asked quietly, "Then what happened after you returned from New York?" Phantom thought of all the prices that she had to pay and replied, "I got punished. I broke several of our rules. I let Loki live, my hire didn't get to keep the package, I was broadcasted on international television, and Master believes that I was compromised." Tony thought carefully what exactly to ask next, but he asked with slight anger hidden in his voice, "What's punishment for you all?" Phantom turned her head to the window and watched the scenery pass them. "There are many different types of punishment. Punishment by electricity, by freezing, by starvation, burning, and even by torture. I really don't want to go into specifics about it." Tony then didn't want to push her away, so he chose to let it go and come back to it later. When they made it to the motel, Tony as about to go into the room, when Phantom stated, "Stark, I'm just gonna stay in the car. I need to get some sleep, okay?" Tony only nodded and allowed her to stay in the car. In the middle of his work, he opened the window curtain slightly to see Phantom still wake just looking up to the stars with no emotion within her eyes. He wanted to go talk, but he knew that it was not the time and that he wasn't good with deep feeling emotions, so he chose to just finish his work. When Tony finished he came to the car and saw Phantom fast asleep in her seat. When Tony drove to Florida, Phantom slept through the entire car ride.

* * *

When they got there, Phantom let Tony take the lead on taking out the guards because she genuinely wanted to see the homemade weaponry in action. When Phantom approached the owner, she twisted his neck, and tossed Tony the gun that was on the table. When Tony and her reached the bed, he had her go the other side and rip off the sheets with their guns pointed at the two girls who were in the sheets. She looked at Tony with a confused expression until they heard a toilet flush. Phantom pointed at Tony to campout and used her Aero abilities to fly herself in the air while having her gun pointed at the man. A small man that Phantom knew to be the face of Mandarin came out while speaking with a British Accent. "Dammit. The fucking rumor about him being only a face was true. I should have trusted Money Boy's info," Phantom thought to herself. She let Tony have his macho moment until she came down, put her hand on his handheld to lower his threat, while stating, "That's just the face of the Mandarin, Stark. That's not the mastermind. Killian is. We went after the wrong guy." The man known as Trevor began to say his life story and how he got to where he was today until Phantom sensed another presence, whipped around to be shot in the side, and held down by a blonde agent, while Chad knocked Tony out.

Tony and her were taken into a dungeon like lab and the woman from his mansion earlier was there. "I knew she was a fucking traitor. "I want you to take somewhere safe," more like to take him directly to the enemy lines. When I get out of the these damn restraints, I'm gonna fucking behead you my fucking self, you fucking bitch." Phantom struggled to fully visualize what exactly the restraints were that were behind her back. Phantom had to use her blood abilities to keep herself from bleeding out, while she glowered at the woman. "So what's the game plan? Have Stark finish what you can't. Your brain isn't as great as Stark's so that's you need him, but the question remains: why exactly are you altering with pyro-based mutations?" The woman didn't answer her by stating, "Your mouth will get you killed one day. What makes you an expert on advanced mutation?" Phantom smirked at her and stated, "You definitely don't want the answer to that. Though when I get out of these restraints, I'll personally show how exactly I know about mutations." Phantom felt that the cuffs were a steel and iron combination that takes a little longer to melt down than other metals. She closed her eyes and focused on heating up her hands and wrist extensively to try to melt it down to a liquid. Phantom heard Tony stirring away, but she knew that she had to keep her focus on her cuffs.

Phantom finally melted down the metal while she watched Tony and the woman go at it. Phantom saw the woman flash a card with a chemical algorithm written on the back of a nametag. Tony began his rant about how the woman before him used to have a good conscious and as he kept going it made Phantom look at the ground and think about her own life. She used to be a good kid, she had a moral compass, she wanted to help people too, but that girl died along with her family years ago. The day that first bullet entered her brother's body, that was when she killed off her kind, gentle, and forgiving side. Her morals only got worse as she grew up within the guild. "The first time I think I actually helped people was when I was in New York with the Avengers. I'm just the same as this woman here. I only worked for my own gain when it either came to information or money." She smiled at the thought of her own past actions. Tony finally realized about what he said out loud and who exactly was tied up next to him. "Shit. I forgot that Phantom was sitting there for a moment. She's been silent the whole time. I bet I accidently made her feel bad. I'll apologize for it later," Tony thought to himself. Phantom heard some footsteps approaching to their location when Tony was asking the woman to get them out of their situation.

Killian walked in and quoted his father until he saw Phantom, "What is she doing here?" Phantom, remembering every assignment she was ever tasked with, stated, "Hello again. Mr. Killian. It's been a while. About two years, if I remember right. What was that assignment again? A simple execution and extraction from a Swiss lab during March, right?" Tony glanced over at Phantom who held her threatening stoic face with blood red eyes. Killian just stared and questioned, "So you chose Stark too?" Phantom laughed manically and stated coldly, "I work for the highest bidder, Killian. You know better than that. Stark pays more, in money, life, and ideas." Tony knowing exactly what she was talking about spoke up to Killian, "You're not still pissed about the Switzerland thing, are you?" Killian went over to Tony and told him about the full experience about how Tony left him on the roof and what he did after Tony blew him off. "So you began a major terrorist, just because you wanted to prove that you could out industry Stark," Phantom asked with a little sass laced within her voice. Killian just responded to her question with a death glare and went back to talking about poor Trevor, who was going to be the fall guy. When Tony asked what the next part of what his brilliant plan was Killian threw three silver marbles that projected Pepper going through the EXTREMIS project. Phantom struggle against her restraints once again to try to get through which caused a little burning to her wrist. As Phantom struggled, she glanced over to Tony who was truly hurt to see Pepper in pain because of the psycho before them and that made Phantom try to get out her restraints even more.

Killian grabbed Tony's neck and asked Tony what kind of benefits he would like, while activating his abilities. Phantom used he abilities to get a full sense of what the EXTREMIS was. It was a mutation based on the Pyro-enhanced cells that the user can heat up upon will. The only backfire that she could sense is that if the cells overheat, they could kills themselves, causing damage to the body or the explosion just like what the woman went through during her experimentation. Phantom was about to use her abilities to overheat the man and allowed her blood to bleed itself out, until Maya told Killian to let Tony go. When Phantom glanced up, she saw she the woman had a Taser with 1200CCs at the ready near her neck. Phantom smirked beneath her mask and continued to focus on keeping her blood within her body. Killian looked slightly conflicted by the position that the woman was putting her in. When Maya asked what would happen he gets too hot, Phantom instantly had an idea and slowly used her Pyro-abilities to use his EXTREMIS to heat it up as slowly as to not put him off. As it started to heat up, Phantom noticed his anger spike up and when she realized what he was going to do, he shot Maya in cold dead blood. Phantom knew that she had to stop because as his anger lowered, that means he would notice her using his EXTREMIS against him. She went back to heat up her metal cuffs to try to get them to loosen up and to get them off.

Two men came in right after Killian left to guard Phantom and Tony. Phantom finally got the metals to melt down and slide off of her wrist. She wouldn't let the men be the wiser and sound the alarm, so they went after Tony by breaking his watch because it was beeping to signal that the suit was coming. Phantom smirked underneath her mask and decided to step into action. She ran up to the men, dropped kicked one of them to the ground, and asked sinisterly, "Stark, you wanna see my powers at work?" Tony didn't know what she was talking about until he heard a gasping air come from the man with a pony tail and a choking sound from the other. He glanced over to Phantom who had both of her hands out to the men. Her left hand was pointing at the man with the ponytail and was completely open, while her right hand was shutting slowly pointing at the man who broke Tony's watch. It took only a moment until both of them dropped, both of their faces were completely blue, and that was when the suit arrived. Tony looked at her with a scared expression and she explained with a maniac expression, "Ponytail here, was robbed of all oxygen. Mr. Smash over there choked on gel consistent saliva. Aerokinesis and Viscosity at work. It is truly a gift and a curse." The other men came and Phantom chose to let Tony handle it while she took all of their guns to prepare for any upcoming battle. She and Tony went back to the main house to go get Trevor and waited for Rhodey to arrive, and when he did, he came with a gun blazing. "Show off," Phantom commented casually to the man which made Tony laugh. Phantom just stood there with her usual stoic expression and Tony held the same expression as her for a change. After the small interrogation of the helpless man that Trevor was, Rhodey went over to Phantom and shook her hand. "It is truly an honor to meet one of the great heroes of the Battle of New York, Miss Phantom. Tony has talked about you significantly, and I have read your very small file. I would be appreciative if…" Phantom cut him off, "I'd come in and answer some questions for the United States Government? Yeah, I'm gonna have to pass. Nice to meet you though, Colonel Rhodes."

Phantom then went over to Trevor, grabbed his collar, and lifted him in the air with his feet dangling. "I need your boat keys. NOW!" Phantom threatened the meek little man. Tony got to fully see how scary this little teen was. Her eyes was glowing a bright burning orange and yellow and her voice was an octave lower than how it usually was. Trevor's clothes began to steam a little from her hands. The man began to stutter to tell her where they were. She threw him down to the ground, grabbed her handheld, pointed it at the mess of a man, and stated, "You have five. Four. Three. Two…" The man screamed while raising his hands in the air in front of his face, "THEY'RE IN THE VISOR OF THE BOAT, OKAY?! I DON'T HAVE THEM, I SWEAR! PLEASE, DON'T KILL ME!" Phantom then pistol whipped the man, and it made him pass out. She grabbed more of the magazines for the current guns that they had. She took the keys that she found on the table and went out to take out to drive the red 2012 Chevrolet Camaro. She went to the driver seat, honked the horn for the two men, and waited until they both came to the car. "Who exactly is going to sit in the back?" Tony asked with sassy tone. Phantom just stated bluntly, "I don't give a damn who. Just get in so we can get Pepper. I am going to run low on energy and pass out in about twenty four hours and we need to get this done now." She, Tony, and Rhodey went on the nice boat that Trevor offered to them, and Tony called the Vice President with the contact information that Phantom had on her phone. Phantom made sure to grab the battery pack that was in the car to charge up Tony's suit while she drove to where the large boat on the coast was. Phantom just watched the boys as she steered the boat to keep its coast. After Tony finished his call with the VP, his AI called him and stated that the cranes arrived, and how the cellar doors were being cleared. When Tony asked about his current suit, the AI only stated that the armor was at 92%. Tony unstrapped himself from the battery, took himself out of the suit, took himself inside of the boat's indoor room, and allowed the suit to take off, leaving Phantom and Rhodey to themselves. When Rhodey opened his mouth to start a convo with Phantom, she just held up an open palm to silence him while stating, "No conversation. I just want to focus on finding that damn ship."

Tony stood inside of the room for about twenty minutes until Rhodey went to go get him. She watched her surroundings and stated, "We need to wait for nighttime then go for a secret assault. It'll be easier to sneak in an out in the middle of the night. Plus it will be easier to get Miss Pepper out. Stark, what exactly do you want me to do? I need an exact mission assignment: assassination, extraction, protection, what?" Tony thought deeply about what he exactly he wanted her to do. "I want a human extraction, both Pepper safely/with little to no harm, and Killian I really don't care about. Torture to obtain information, and then public assassination. I want Killian to suffer. More than anyone who he ever hurt. Is that enough information for you?" Phantom just analyzed Tony's answer, "The human extraction of Pepper, I understand. The extraction and torture of Killian, after the exact way he took Pepper and blew up Stark's estate. That couldn't have been easy for him to accept." Phantom shifted her position to look at Tony, she went down to bend her right knee with her left on the ground, bowed, and proclaimed like a robot, "I accept your assignment. Let your will be done." Phantom then went over and held the boat's helm. They sat in the boat until nightfall hit. During that time Phantom slept most of the time. She kept the beat in its position by tying the boat on the bow and stern sides of the boat. Phantom used her tracker. "The President's on that big ship," she pointed out. Rhodey looked her and asked, "And how you know that?" Phantom just answered quickly, "During Nixon's time, he made a private rule for Presidents. They are required to get a bio-tracker implanted into their bloodstream, so that it couldn't be taken out. Only certain individuals have the jurisdiction to access the whereabouts, but my guild stole that info years ago." Tony turned to her and stated, "I need the President alive as well. Little to no damage, and I will pay whatever you need."

* * *

Phantom nodded her head and went ahead of the men to get to where her "packages" were, as she explained to Tony and Rhodey why she wanted to go first. She scaled up the metal bars swiftly and due to her black clothing, very discretely. She noticed how many guards were each area, and on each level. Phantom saw that the President was tied up in the Iron Patriot suit was hung from only his arms. Phantom put her hand over her comm and asked, "Pepper or President? Which is first priority, Mr. Stark?" Both of the men answered different answers and Phantom stated, "Dammit. I'll go for the President first. You both head for Miss. Pepper and I will meet you in middle." Phantom then flipped herself to where the first line connecting to the President's left hand. She extended her hand and caused the guards saliva to form into the consistent gel saliva that she did before. She caught their bodies before they could fall over giving away her position. When the second string of guards came around, she held on to dear life while going the other side of the catwalk. She held her position until she heard the men give a commotion over the two dead bodies. She pulled herself into a full circle kicked the two men in the directions that they came, pulled out her guns with silencers and fired at the two at once. Phantom looked to where the men were and stated over the comm, "You got four EXTREMIS heading your way." It took Phantom a moment to notice, but then she saw what Tony had planned, so she went over her comm and questioned, "You really brought the Calvary, didn't you, Mr. Stark?" Tony gave the command and the Iron Man suits went to work, as did Phantom. She reached the line of where the President's arm was, used her gun to fire on the other side, and pulled the President up with her enormous amount of strength that she could muster. When she finally got him pulled up, she felt her energy wearing thin, so she knew that she had to hurry before she was going to pass out. She put her hand on the suit's shoulder and stated, "Mr. President. Coronel Rhodes will be momentarily." She looked over and saw Rhodes fighting off three EXTREMIS fighters. She yelled, "RHODES, THE LINES!" Rhodey shot off one of the lines and sent the EXTREMIS in the water while he held on to swing towards Phantom and the President. Phantom grabbed the line that was connected to the President, swung it to get some speed behind it, and threw it over to Rhodey. Rhodey grabbed the line and when Phantom felt the perfect moment, she used the velocity and pulled on the line as hard as she could and got Rhodey to where the President and her were. Rhodey noticed her struggling a little bit, because she was shaking, so he asked, "Phantom, you alright?" Phantom answered with strain, "I need to finish this assignment. I'm gonna get Pepper and Killian. You stay with the President." She then rose up to her feet slowly and then ran to where Tony was.

Phantom heard Rhodey over the comm stating that he was going to get the Presidents out and she smirked and thought, "One down, two to go. At least I got the big fish." Phantom ran and she saw Pepper dangling from a destroyed platform with Tony reaching out to her. Phantom ran as hard as she could, but when she saw the platform shake, she immediately knew what was gonna happen. Phantom ran, jumped off her catwalk, caught Pepper as they were falling into the open flames, and surrounded them with seawater as they about to be engulfed by the flames. After they fell through the fire, Phantom used her body to spin them an create a drill of the salt water, and landed them in the ocean, Phantom swam up to the surface and allowed Pepper to get some air while she was freaking out, "Oh, my god. Oh, my god. Oh, my god. Why aren't we dead?" Phantom just held onto her arm and stated, "Miss Pepper. You might not remember me, but my name is Phantom and I'm an associate of Mr. Stark. We're alive because I surrounded us with saltwater and we just fell through to the ocean. I'm gonna get you to land, but then I need to report back to Mr. Stark, okay?" Pepper just nodded her head, and Phantom used her hydrokinesis to bring them back onto the ship. She instructed Pepper to grab one of the lifeboats and get back to the mainland while she went to get Tony. When she came to where Tony was, she saw that the Mark 42 was restraining Killian, so she went up to Killian grabbed him and screamed, "WHO SENT YOU THE OKAY FOR THE ASSAULT ON STARK?!" Killian already knew what she was talking about, so as his final words he explained, "The Erinyes' Guild Master." Phantom felt extreme anger at that statement, so as the suit exploded, she turned up the heat to kill him faster but with a lot more burns and more ashes caused to the body. She tried to keep the explosion to a minimal as she used her abilities to condense the energy down. The blast sent her back a little and she saw Killian fall through with his body still intact. "Damn. I need to expand his pyro cells to get them to overheat." It did burn her hands, but she chose to allow it to stay because she felt that she needed to store her energy. Phantom ran out and saw Pepper, who didn't heed her advice, take out Killian herself. "Not bad, Peppers. Not bad at all," Phantom thought to herself.

Phantom climbed down to meet with Tony and Pepper who were having their couples, lovey dovey moment. Phantom allowed them to have it, but when she felt that she needed to report, she did a polite cough to gain their attention. Phantom immediately straightened her back, went to her bowing knee position, and proclaimed, "Both the objectives: Miss Pepper and the President have been retrieved sir. Killian, though was not killed by me, has given me some information for you Mr. Stark. Is there anything else you require of me?" Tony just put sass in his voice and said, "Well don't you look all proper and mercenary-like." Phantom bit her tongue to try to be professional and chose to say nothing. "Oh, now you're silent. Well, you did do what I wanted technically, so you're gonna get paid what I promised. I think I might have one more job for you." Phantom raised her head up to him and he stated while looking at Pepper with complete love, concern, and worry, "You stated that you have some type of blood control with your Hydrokinesis when we were driving here." Phantom only gave a little nod to agree, and then Tony grabbed Peppers hand and asked, "If I were to pay you, could you get the EXTREMIS drug out of Pepper?" Phantom deeply thought about it and stated, "That won't be necessary. I'll do it without charge. We need to go to a safe and secure place, like Stark Towers. I need a large bathtub that can cause her to float calmly while I do my process." Tony nodded at her, and then without any warning Phantom past out in front of the two adults. They both just looked at each other with concern. Tony picked up Phantom in a princess style and walked out to find a police car that was ready to take them where ever they needed to go. Tony allowed the EMT to examine Phantom and he said that she was just exhausted and needed rest.

* * *

Tony had them drove out to an airport and flew them out on the STARK private jet to New York. Phantom just slept until they got back to the tower and that was when she woke up. As Tony landed the plane on the landing pad of the tower, Phantom woke up slowly, raised her hand to hold the side of her head. "Mmmmm. Ugh. Judging by the sound outside, we're in New York, aren't we?" Tony just smirked and responded in a sing-songy tone, "Rise and shine, Sleeping Beauty." Phantom just hmphed at him, went out of the plane, went into the kitchen, and began to drink all the water she could find. After about ten minutes of drinking, Tony decided to intervene and ask, "Do you need some food?" Phantom then stopped drinking and responded, "Yes I do. I need lots of food. You order McDonalds, Papa Johns, Chinese Food, and… OH, OH, OH! THOSE SHAWARMAS FROM THAT ONE PLACE WE WENT TO AFTER THE BATTLE! I'm gonna head over to my safe house in Queens to get some of my energy and stability pills, okay?" Tony was just confused by what she requested, "And what exact food do you want?" Phantom took a second to think about it and responded, "McDonalds, chicken nuggets and fries: as much as you can give me. Trust me I eat a lot to burn out all the energy I need to use or to restore what I used. I might be able to out eat Thor and Cap together. OOO, IS THERE A JAPANESE RAMEN JOINT AROUND HERE?! I could really go for some authentic chicken and miso ramen. For Papa Johns, I love cheese only pizza. I know that it is the most basic thing ever, but I love cheese pizza, OOO and if you can get the crust stuffed like Bosco sticks, that would be awesome! For the Chinese food, hmmmm, Spicy Mapo Tofu sounds nice to build up my Pyro abilities." Phantom then went over to the drawer and yelled, "DO YOU HAVE ANY BIKES?" Tony responded, "Yeah. The one you had from Miami made it and I had it shipped here. It's in the garage waiting for you. Keys are in the compartment. I also moved all the money I owed you in a separate account that I am the cosigner for. You need to go to EBSBDirect and sign the paperwork. Do that on your way home." Phantom nodded at his request and went out to her safe house.

She tried to take the short way rather taking the long way. Along the way, she went over to the bank that Tony told her to go to. When she arrived they already knew her title and thought that she was the "Avenger" that helped in New York. She read over the paperwork and it made Tony out to be her emergency guardian as well as Pepper to be the other guardian. She read that she had to have $5000 in order not to have fees, and she knew that that wouldn't be an issue. Phantom decided to close down the houses that she had because she needed to cut back on her expenses. She had many different bank accounts around the world, and she took assignments that could charge over a million per assignment since she had such high cliental. She decided to keep the EBSBDirect for Tony's payments, but for everyone else, she would place them in different accounts to be on the safe side financially. She decided to go to her safe house, and she got a call from Tony. "Hello?" Phantom questioned over the phone as she drove. "Hey, I hired a moving truck to get your things from your apartment in Queens. They know who you are and that you'll have lots of weird stuff. Just pack it all up and come back. You won't need any furniture unless you really want something. How long do you think that it will take for you to get there and take everything out?" Phantom had to process what he just stated and responded, "Umm. About an hour, why?" Tony didn't answer her and just hung up the phone, so Phantom sped over to her safe house.

She met the movers in front of the safe house. Her safe house was a secure apartment building that required to have a key and passcode to gain access within it. She went into her loft and instructed all the men to wait until she gave them all "the okay." She had to disable all of the booby traps and put them on her white old school counter that had several stains on the edges and corners. "OKAY GUYS, YOU CAN COME IN!" Phantom yelled to the men waiting outside. They came in and saw what all she was working with. She had an old black leather couch that only had two seats. It wasn't well taken care of and had holes and rips throughout the entire couch. Her bed room only had a small twin size bed that didn't have any sheets on it. The bed frame was all metal and looked like it was from the 1920's. They went to the closet and saw that there were all types of weapons ranging from handheld guns, to machine guns, swords, knives, grenades, flash bombs, poison darts, and vast others weapons. The looked in the lone dresser and saw even more weapons with a set of sheets. Phantom went to the mattress, took one of her katanas and sliced open the mattress and they saw her take out a silver box that was had a giant padlock preventing anyone to open its secrets. She went outside and place it in her motorcycle and went back to instruct the men to put the weapons in certain boxes that she wanted them in. After she got what exactly she wanted, she told the men to do what Stark wanted from them. She called Tony afterwards and when he responded she told him, "They obtained my weaponry and are currently on their way to your location. I am going to go get a little snack on my way back after I tell my landlord that I am leaving." Tony was about to ask her how long she was going to be, so she did what he did before and hung up on him.

Phantom remembered a little shop that was a deli and grocery shop. She drove up to Delmar's Deli-Grocery and parked her bike on the side and went inside. The shop was very small and quaint that was run by a Puerto Rican family. She went over to the candy section and decided to buy some Dove Milk Chocolate Bars. She over and went to pay the man, and said, "Hola, Senor. Como esta? Yo quiero estos Chocolates de Dove, por favor." The man took a moment and finally realized who she was, "OH MY GOD, YOU'RE AN AVENGER! IN MY SHOP! NO CHARGE, NO CHARGE!" Phantom tried to tell her that she wanted to pay, but he didn't pay attention and requested, "Can I take a photo?" Phantom just looked around nervously. "Umm… Sure, but first, umm… Let me go feed the meter real quick." Phantom then scooted outside and paid the meter for her bike and sighed deeply. "Man, I can't even get candy anymore without someone recognizing me."

She walked back to the shop and noticed a preteen brown haired boy sitting down on the sidewalk just people watching. He looked tired and she knew that he shouldn't be outside due to the extremely cold weather. Phantom walked over to the boy, took off her coat, and placed it on the young boy's shoulders. The young boy looked extremely surprised by her kindness. When he looked up at her, she got to see his full face. He had soft brown eyes that had kindness and pain that she recognized a little within her own eyes. He had a sharper chin with light cheekbones that would define his face if he smiled. He had soft chocolate locks that had a soft swirl to them. He seemed to be tiny, even for a young pre-teen. The young boy noticed Phantom's features as well. She had icy blue eyes that shown like the clear blue sky. There seemed to be a deep repressed sadness dwelled within her eyes. Judging by just the top part of her face, she had clear blemish free warm beige skin. She had an average sized forehead and her Espresso colored hair was put up in a high ponytail. She was crouched down to meet his eyelevel. She put her right cheek in her right palm that was nuzzled against her thigh. "Do you wanna go inside?" Phantom asked the young boy. She put one of her Dove Chocolate Bars on his lap as a friendly gesture. "Her voice is so sweet, soft, and has a rich mid-tone," The young boy thought about her. He just sat there for a moment, until Phantom spoke again while reaching her hand out to the young boy, "Do you want to get some food inside? It's a little cold out here ain't it?" The young boy thought that she looked very trusting and he extended his hand and took hers.

She hoisted him up to his feet and took him inside. "Get whatever you want. It's on me. You want food, get food. You want candy, get some candy. You want some pop, you go get that soda. If you want alcohol… I can't buy that sorry. You're way too young for that," She commanded to the young boy. The young boy went out and grabbed some candy. He grabbed some gummy worms but lots of chocolate candy. She then went with him to get some pop and she grabbed four bottles of 1.25 L of Dr. Pepper. The young boy grabbed a bottle of apple juice and another bottle of cold green tea. Phantom raised her eyebrow at the kid and questioned, "You grab so much chocolate, and yet you get healthy drinks?" The young boy just looked confused by her question, so she gave a silly smile at the boy and led him to the deli counter. "So which number do you recommend?" Phantom asked the young boy. "Can I get a number five with pickles smooshed down?" Phantom nodded at the Deli store owner who nodded at his cook to make the order. Phantom looked at the menu for a moment and asked, "Ummm… is it okay if I get a scrambled egg sandwich? I know that it's not on the menu, but…" The man immediately stopped her, "No, no, no. Whatever the hero wants, the hero gets. White bread as well, would you like anything else on it?" Phantom seemed genuinely surprised by this interaction. She answered, "Yes, white bread please. And um, can I put green peppers with Valentina hot sauce on it as well." The man nodded at her and instructed the cook to make her request. "Cuanto cuesta para la comida, los dulces, y las bebidas?" The man responded, "No cuesta nada. De donde usted?" Phantom smiled at him and responded, "La familia de mi papa son de Mexico, pero mi mama era una gringa." The man smiled and nodded at her. The food finally arrived and Phantom had the boy sit with her at a table in the back of the store to eat their food.

Phantom waited until the boy started to eat first and then allowed him to eat while she watched him and just kept her sandwich wrapped up and bottles closed. After the boy ate haft of his sandwich, he glanced up to see the older girl staring at him with complete focus in her eyes. With a mouth full of food he decided to ask, "What?" She just kept her serious expression and asked, "Who exactly were waiting for outside? Why didn't you come inside for the heat?" The young boy was just confused about her questions, so he responded timidly, "Aren't you suppose to ask someone's name before you expose a conversation?" Phantom raised her eyebrow at the young boy's boldness. "My name's Phantom. Yours?" The boy smiled at her and responded, "My name's Peter. Peter Parker." She then requestioned, "So who were waiting for, and why was it outside?" Peter looked deeply into her blue eyes and stated, "I was waiting for my Aunt May. She was going to come pick me up here on her way home from work. I waited outside because I knew I would have smelled the food and got hungry, but I do not have any money." Phantom analyzed the boy's answer and smiled at his honesty. She knew that she had to carry on a conversation with the boy, so she asked, "You excited for Christmas?" Peter said nothing and Phantom questioned the look within his eyes. They seemed upset from her question so she asked, "Do you celebrate Christmas?" Peter nodded his head and responded, "I'm excited for Christmas truly, but my family cannot afford much. I really want to give my aunt something, but I can't afford it." Phantom's eyes softened with sadness. "I remember when I couldn't afford anything. I have the funds, why not help the kid out?" Phantom thought to herself. "How long until your aunt gets here?" Phantom asked the young boy. He looked generally confused by her question and looked like he was about to scream, "STRANGER DANGER!" Phantom sighed at him and stated, "I want to help you get something for your aunt." The boy still looked confused and asked, "Why?" Phantom smiled at him and stated, "I have so much money that I don't know what to do with. I need to go Christmas shopping anyway. Why not help a nice boy out while I'm at it?" His smile grew so big and he began to nod his head up and down like crazy. Phantom went over to the owner of the store and told him to watch out for the woman and tell her that he had to go back to school and would be back shortly.

Phantom hopped onto her bike and handed the young boy her helmet while she drove all the way back to Manhattan to get the boy a gift that no woman could resist: jewelry. Phantom called one store that she once did a job for to let them know that she was coming with a male guest. When she pulled to the store on the corner of Madison Ave: Graff. There was the head sales consultant and store manager waiting for them with two glasses of champagne. Phantom instructed the boy to get off first before she parked the bike. She parked, walked over to the boy, took the helmet, put it with her bike, walked up to Peter, and had him walk with her to the consultants. Phantom took both of the glasses while stating, "Thank you." She began to drink the champagne through her mask while walking into the store with the three people following behind her. "Miss Phantom. It is truly an honor to see you again. When you said a nice young man was coming we assumed that he would be a little more…" The manager began. "A little more my age? I am here for him. Whatever he says, goes. I'm just the ATM paying for what he wants. Can you bring him some juice while we shop?" Phantom instructed to the store consultants. Someone ran out of the store to go get what she instructed. Phantom downed the last glass of champagne and walked over to the young boy. She gave the empty glasses of champagne to the store manager and stated while putting her hands on the boys shoulders, "This boy here. Is the only reason why I'm here. Whatever he wants, he gets. It's a gift for his aunt for Christmas, so I want something to pop, that'll always make this the Christmas to remember." The manager nodded her head with excitement within her eyes. The manager then gave the glasses to another sales associate and proceeded to show Peter and her their most luxurious items. They had the duo sitting together on as the associates brought out the items one by one.

While they waiting for the items, Peter decided to ask, "So Phantom, who are you celebrating Christmas with?" Phantom thought about for a moment and stated, "I guess, Stark and umm Miss Pepper. Why?" The young boy looked at her with hope in his eyes, "So what did you get them?" Phantom just looked at him questioningly, "Was I supposed to get them something?" Peter just looked at her with confusion and stated, "Yeah. It's Christmas. I bet they got you something." Phantom then thought about it and she knew that Tony would, but not sure if Pepper would. Phantom then asked him, "So what do you get a man that has everything? And a woman who you barely know?" Peter was silent for a moment because he had to think about it. "Well, how about something sentimental? Something that means a lot to you and would mean a lot to them." Phantom just sat there for a moment and decided to think about it later. For now she wanted to focus at one issue at a time. They kept bring out all these extravagant jewels and Peter didn't seem to care for any of them. When Phantom noticed that they only brought out the really expensive jewels that didn't seem like his style Phantom spoke up, "Can you bring out more simple diamonds? Something that could be worn for an awards ceremony, but isn't so grand that it would stand out at a simple cocktail party." The manager looked confused but eventually went to the back and came out with several white and yellow diamond pendants that came in different cuts. All of the consultants stood in a line and presented one necklace each. Phantom stood Peter up and walked him down the line to see which one he would like. Peter stood at a white pear cut diamond. It had an elegant shine to it, but it didn't stand out too much. Phantom looked at Peter's eyes and saw a loving look within when he looked as the small yet powerful jewel. She put her right hand on the young boy's shoulder and stated, "We'll take it. I want it wrapped up in wrapping and within a present bag with a plastic bag to cover it from the dirt. Also I want one more glass of that champagne real quick." Phantom walked over to where their cash resister was, took out her metal wallet, and pulled out her "luxury" card that she uses for hotel stays, fancy food, or technology. She paid for the gem while downing the champagne.

She walked out with Peter who wouldn't stop talking about how he thought how Phantom was a kind hero that didn't have to pay for all the stuff. She drove him out to Best Buy on Time Square. She had Peter stay on the bike as she went in and bought a Starkpod for the young boy and had it wrapped it just like the diamond. She went back out of the store with the gift and handed it to the young boy, and drove him back out to Queens. On the way, Peter asked, "So why did you get a gift from Best Buy?" Phantom just kept her focus on the traffic and stated, "That is for you. Along with an envelope that is in my pocket. The envelope you can open when I drop you off, but your gift and your Aunt May's gift can open only on December 25th at 11:30 pm. No sooner, got it?" Peter remained silent for a moment and responded, "Okay." She smiled and drove faster. She drove them out to a spiritual shop that sold incense and various other items. She bought a silver set of meditation balls and placed them with her other stuff. Phantom went back to the bike and drove them as fast as she could and arrived to the deli shop. Phantom walked him back inside and questioned, "You want anything more to eat or drink? Do you fully remember what I told you about the gifts?" Peter nodded his head and stated, "I think I'm okay. I still have my tea. As for the gifts, you said we can open them at 11:30pm on Christmas Day and not a minute sooner, but the envelope can be open now if I want to." Phantom nodded her head with approval. She handed him the gifts, envelope, and hopped back on her bike. "WAIT! YOUR HELMET AND COAT!" Peter yelled at the mercenary. "Keep it. I won't wear them anyway," Phantom yelled as she sped off back to the Tower.

As she drove, she managed to put on her Bluetooth and called someone from her past to do something for her. The phone rang for a couple of moments until she heard, "Mushi, mushi." Phantom smiled from her masked and questioned, "Is this the Great Master Painter, Koto Kamamiro?" The man answered her quickly, "Yes, this is Koto. What you want?" Phantom smiled through the phone because of the familiarity of the voice and accent, and requested, "Mr. Koto, it is good to hear from you. It's been about six, seven years ago. I need a painting done, by Christmas Eve." The man started to yell at her in Japanese over the phone. "MR. KOTO! Please, I know you are the only one capable of doing so with the expertise that I seek." The man remained silent and questioned, "You call and give me two days to paint, and expect my perfection?" Phantom smiled and stated, "You've done it before in only a single day's time. I'm outside your shop now and I'm going to walk in in a minute." Phantom got into her motorbike, took out some pictures that she wanted to use for the portrait, and went inside to see an elderly Japanese man waiting for her. He didn't recognize her and that made her smile. "Hello again, Mr. Koto." He just sneered at her and questioned, "Who are you? How you know me?" Phantom just continued to walk up to him. He didn't seemed to be phased by her presence, which continued to make her smile. When she got face to face to him, she unlatched her mask, and pulled it down to reveal her face to him. He was shocked by her presence, and began to stutter, "Y…yo…you? But… you died? H… how? Your…" She silenced him by getting even closer to him, put her hand on his mouth, and whispered, "Shhhh. Even walls have ears." He nodded at her warning. She removed her hand, placed her mask back on, and said politely, "It is truly nice to see you again. As I stated on the way, I need a portrait done. I have pictures of those I want in it. How you arrange the people is entirely up to you, but I will tell you the ones who are paper clipped together are very close and get along really well. I need this done by Christmas Eve. I will have someone come pick it up and I will pay you now. I also need these mediation ball done for a friend who has PTSD. It's Tony Stark, so design it as you see fit with his personality with mine." She pulled out a big envelope and stated, "Here this is $500,000. 5 for the portrait and time, and 495 for keeping my secret." She gave him the envelope and pictures and walked out without letting him get a word in.

She hopped back onto her bike and went to a Theater Circle over on 44th Street. She went up to the store owner who was fangirling over an Avenger being within their shop. He was a brown hair man who was very tall and skinny who had a tenor voice that had a feminine tone to it. He had on a dark blue short sleeve button up shirt and khakis. "OMG, OMG, OMG! AN AVENGER. I GET TO MEET AN ACTUAL AVENGER! OMG MY THEATER TROUPE IS GOING TO BE SO JEALOUS!" The man squealed to her. She kept her stoic expression and asked, "Listen, I remember coming here a couple years ago and there was a music trinket box that contained the musical stylings of "I Heard Someone Crying," from the Secret Garden. I know that a Mrs. Rios signed it a couple of years ago when she performed here in New York City. I also happen to know that it is only of your most expensive items and I am willing to pay. Please." She slipped $500 onto the cash counter. The man just looked surprised by her statement, became a stuttering mess, and went over to the case to grab the specially crafted trinket. The whole time he walked and grabbed the box, he just kept shaking the entire time. When he went to the counter, Phantom stated, "I also want it wrapped up within a box and make sure it is safe and secure, so that it won't break." The man nodded his hand, wrapped up the gift, gave to Phantom, who just walked out while waving without turning around. "Keep the change," she yelled as she walked out. She put the box into her motorcycle, and drove out to a CVS. She bought two collage binders, one flash drive, scissors, glue, decoration, pens, markers, and some paper.

After that, she decided to head back to the Tower. She drove into the garage, balanced all of items she bought, and made a single attempt to get back to the main lounge floor. When she walked in, she saw a giant pine tree that was decorated with silver tinsel, silver and white decorations, and a giant star on top of the tree. Phantom's eyebrow began to twitch with the astonishment of the bedazzled tree. She went to the tree and placed all of the wrapped gifts under the tree, and went over to the computer that was over on its own. She printed off all types of pictures about the history of music, culture, major events, and objects that can help to be identified with slang terms. She then printed off lots of random items that she was going to describe. After all of her printing was done, she went onto YouTube and began to play Christmas as she went to work on the collage books. As she finished one of them, she heard someone walk in. "AND WHERE THE HELL HAVE YOU BEEN?! I HAD TO POSTPONE ALL OF THE FOOD BECAUSE I WANTED TO WAIT FOR YOU!" Tony yelled when he saw her just casually working on a collage. She glanced up with her usual stoic expression and stated, "I wasn't aware that I had a curfew, Dad. I had things to do. After I finish this last collage, then I will eat, but I need just twenty minutes." She then went back to her finishing her collage. Tony made all of the calls to get the food to the Tower, sat down on the couch, and watched Phantom as she made the collage. "So, why…" Tony began. "Nope. You will find out later," Phantom interrupted him by raising her left hand to him as she wrote on the paper. Tony just watched her work and began to talk about why she should have been there sooner and what he was doing while she worked.

After the twenty minutes went by, she abruptly closed the book, which startled Tony, and went over to the elevator to wait. "Why are you watching the elevator doors?" Tony asked her with sass in his voice. "I stated that I only needed twenty minutes, and it's been twenty minutes. Now I need food, and I intend to wait for it," Phantom stated bluntly to the genius while watching the door. Tony sighed at her and just kept complaining, "I don't know why you're acting so weird. You can just sit down and wait. Maybe watch some TV. Actually interacting with people and the outside world." Phantom just remained quiet as he continued. Once she heard a ding come from the lower levels, her posture straightened up and then when the doors open, she saw a high school teenager with two boxes of pizza from Papa Johns. Phantom took the boxes from the stunned star gushed teen and placed them onto the kitchen island. Tony paid the young teen while apologizing for Phantom's behavior, "I'm sorry. She doesn't interact with people much. I'll work with her on that." When the teen left, Phantom went back over to the elevator doors to wait for the next delivery. "REALLY?! ARE YOU JUST GOING TO KEEP WATCH LIKE A GUARD DOG?! YOU'RE THE ONE WHO WANTED ALL OF THIS FOOD!" Tony yelled at the young mercenary. "Yep. When all the food gets here, then I'll eat," she tried to reason to the impatient man. "Hmph. Fine, I'll wait until you start eating. I'm going to go get Pepper, okay? If anymore food arrives before I get back, interact with the teen and pay for the food before you take it." Phantom nodded at the playboy's order while keeping her attention on the door.

"That girl is seriously starting to worry me. She needs to start acting a little more normal for a kid her age. She should be able to converse with her fellow teens in some way, but she just completely ignores them," Tony thought to himself. Tony let out a huge sigh, went over to his room, and saw Pepper soundly asleep. She was sleeping ever since they took off from Miami and he knew it was because of the EXTREMIS within her body. He shook her awake and when she woke up, she still looked exhausted, smiled, and asked, "Hey, is she back?" Tony smiled and nodded at her. Tony helped her over to the elevator to get to the lounge floor. When they arrived, all the food was spread out onto the island in the kitchen. Phantom was waiting for them by the door, and when she saw Pepper, her eyes softened. She picked up Pepper in a princess style and took her over to the couch. She grabbed a blanket that was at the end of the couch, put it on Pepper, went over to the island, made Pepper one plate of food and a bowl of the Mapo Tofu. On the plate, there was white rice with some seaweed, carrots, peas, and katsuyu. She also managed to put a slice of the supreme pizza that Tony ordered for them, some McDonalds fries, and some chicken nuggets. She took the plate and bowl to Pepper and asked her, "What kind of drink would you like, Miss Pepper? Water, Dr. Pepper, Coke? I wouldn't recommend anything alcoholic due to me doing your EXTREMIS Extraction after we eat." Pepper just told her water and Phantom brought her a glass cup. Phantom made Tony a bowl of the Mapo Tofu with the same plate as she made for Pepper. "Why are you serving us? You're the guest, and I can serve myself," Tony questioned the young girl. "It is exactly as you said. I'm the guest, but I am also the hired help. I made both of you wait, so I decided to make it up by serving you."

Phantom then went over to the rest of the Mapo Tofu and ate whatever was left of it by herself. "Phantom, honey. Why don't you come over and eat with us?" Pepper yelled to the poor girl. Phantom just looked down and responded with sadness laced in her voice, "I don't think that would be wise. After I extract the EXTREMIS I'm going to leave. I don't want either of you to make an attachment before I leave." Tony, who was completely fed up at this point, went over to the young mercenary, picked her up princess-style, and dropped her on an open spot on the couch. He then went over to the island, picked up the bowl of Mapo Tofu, and put it in Phantom's hands. She looked really startled by him, but when she looked up, she saw that he had an angry/stern expression on his face, and told her in a fatherly tone, "You're going to sit here and eat with us. You will converse with us, and we will enjoy each other's company, is that clear?" Phantom nodded her head and he went back to his seat next to Pepper to finish his meal. "I haven't heard that kind of tone since… a long time ago. Besides the constant sass and dirty jokes, Tony really reminds me of him," Phantom thought to herself and smiled at the billionaire. Phantom just watched as Pepper and Tony conversed with each other and made slight yes or no responses when she was asked something to make it out that she was engaging.

"So Phantom, when are you going to come back after you leave?" Pepper asked the young girl. Phantom just looked at her with shock and asked professionally, "Do you need me for another job?" Tony just sighed and stated, "No, we don't need another job from you. We just want to know when you're going to come back just to visit." Phantom tilted her head to the left and asked questioningly with a little fear deeply hidden in her voice, "You want me to just come back to visit?" Phantom didn't want to show it, but she felt her heart swell when they asked her that, "No, please don't say that. I might get the wrong impression." Both Pepper and Tony looked at each other. "Can we show her now, Pep?" The man asked the woman with excitement in his voice. Phantom just looked at him with suspicion. Pepper nodded at him which made Tony shoot up from his spot. Phantom was just taken back by the man, but when she saw that Pepper was struggling to get up, she put down the bowl, went over to her, and picked her up. "I'll carry you. It's fine," Phantom stated while Pepper tried to object to the girl. Phantom nodded to Tony to indicate that she was going to follow him. Tony led her to the elevator and pushed the button that held a symbol of a waterfall, which was at the top. Phantom raised her eyebrow at it, and it took them up to the floor.

When the doors open, the room was nothing she expected. It was an open no ceiling or walls area that completely green with a pine tree, a weeping willow, and a maple tree. Phantom looked down and saw that there was grass on the ground, and a little pool/pond by the willow that created a stream from one side of the building to the other. There was a lone bench underneath the maple tree that was made of wood. Phantom took Pepper to the bench and saw that there was an engraftment placed on the bench: "The Garden of the Avengers, or Phantom's Garden." Phantom turned to where they entered and saw a tiny waterfall that had the stream go out to the pond on left side of the elevator while the right had a painting of a white suburban two level house. Tony led her to the waterfall, and pushed an arrow up button of the elevator and the waterfall opened from the middle to show a metal door. Before she went in, she grabbed Pepper, and nodded to have Tony open the door. When he did, Phantom felt extremely happy and surprised. The room was lit by the ceiling windows and had a warm white glow to it. There was a black fireplace that looked like it wouldn't have needed wood. It had it's own kitchen with an island. The living room area had a hung up flat screen TV above the fire place. The living room had a brown leather couch with two matching arm chairs. There was a lone computer station with three computer screens with two servers. The smell of warm apple cinnamon waft through the air, but also a small hint of the ocean and vanilla that was hidden into it. "It's… it's… it's like the house," Phantom thought to herself as a lone tear streamed down her mask.

When Pepper felt the tear hit her hand, she glanced up to Phantom and yelled, "OMG SHE HATES IT!" Tony turned to the young girl and yelled, "NO DON'T CRY! WE CAN CHANGE IT, IF YOU DON'T LIKE!" Phantom shook her head and proclaimed, "NO! It's not that I don't like it. It's just like my old house, before everything happened. It's… I actually love it. It makes me feel like it's home." She made the last part a whisper that both the adults could hear, so they smiled at each other. Phantom placed Pepper on the couch, went in front of the two adults, bowed, and stated, "Thank you so much. For everything." Tony went up to the girl, put his arm around her shoulders, and stated, "This was nothing. You're an Avenger, and should stay at "Avenger's Tower." This will be your floor only. There is another way in but you need to push the scythe button to come to this side. To go outside from here, you can go by the waterfall, or there is a screen door over on the other side of the elevator. The little key switch over there is what locks your floor from anyone getting in through the elevator and then there is another one by the stairs. The kitchen is fully stocked with all types of food, cause I really don't know what all you like. Your closet is filled with new clothes and masks. As for the TV, I love Comcast so that's what we have with all the premium channels. If you want something else, just talk to me and I'll make it happen. The room is entirely Bluetooth, and connects to phones around the building, but there is a small cordless house phone in the kitchen and your bedroom if you prefer that. I put some of the weapons in closet next to the coat closet and the rest in a practice area. Is there anything else you would like?" Phantom thought about it for a second and asked, "Did you find a big locked box?" Tony nodded his head questioningly, and Phantom requested, "Can you have it put under the tree while I work on Miss Pepper?" Tony nodded his head, and Phantom asked, "Would it be alright if you installed a dance studio?" Tony just looked at the girl with one of his eyebrow s raised. "I do ballet to keep my joints open. It makes it easier to fight and be flexible," Phantom stated to his look. He nodded his head and stated, "I'll make the call."

* * *

Phantom smiled at him, turned to Pepper, and asked, "Miss Pepper, are you ready for the extraction?" Pepper looked at her with worry within her eyes, but nodded. Phantom picked her up and asked, "Where is the tub that I requested for?" Tony showed her to a spa area floor and took her to a large bath tub that big enough for Pepper's body to be submerged and spread out, but not deep enough to drown. Phantom placed Pepper on a chair, turned the water on cold to fill the tub, and put some of the bath powder that she uses to cool down her body. "Stark, I'm gonna need ice. Lots of it. As much as you can get me," Phantom ordered the philanthropist. Tony pulled out his cell, called a man named Happy, and ordered him to go to a store for all the ice he could get. Phantom then used her powers to chill the water even more than it was coming out. "Pepper, I'm gonna warn you now. This water will be freezing and you will feel like you are going to die because you're freezing to death, but you will not. The EXTREMIS is a fire based pathogen and needs to be extinguished as it comes out of your body, ergo the ice bath. I'm gonna need you to strip down to a sports bra and spandex. You need to keep your emotions under control, because if your emotions spike up and your body feels like it is in danger, your EXTREMIS will act up and cause the water to heat up which might undo the freezing of the pathogens. I gonna need you to trust me and relax, okay?" Pepper nodded her head and changed as Phantom and Tony waited for Happy and the ice. Happy arrived with the ice after ten minutes and he had ten large bags. Phantom went back to the water to chill the water before allowing Pepper to get in.

When Pepper got in, she immediately received goosebumps all over her body. Phantom took out a throwing dart and inserted it in both of Peppers hands to cause her to bleed. Phantom inserted her hands and arms within the water and began to go to work. Phantom focused by sending the water into Pepper's blood stream and focused on a molecular level of the blood cells, while trying to keep the blood from bleeding out. Phantom could sense the enhancing pyro particles within her blood cells. She began to pull apart the contaminated enhanced particles from the blood cell as carefully as she could. If she slipped up once, it could destroy the cell and warn the others that they are in danger, which would cause Pepper's EXTREMIS to act up. After Phantom got several of the blood cells done, she pulled out the enhanced particles into the cold water. "Stark I need ice in the water now. A cup at a time, every two minutes," Phantom ordered Tony. Phantom went back to focusing on Pepper's cell. When Pepper began to shake, Phantom told her, "Pepper, calm down. You're not gonna freeze. You're okay and you're gonna be fine." After going to work for over two hours on Pepper's cells. When Phantom looked to a large extent in her blood stream and couldn't see or sense any pyro cells, she concluded that she had finished. She healed up Pepper's injuries using her blood. Phantom helped Pepper out of the water, and Pepper could barely stand up straight and Phantom felt extremely weak, but she knew she wanted to get to the bed and get her some rest. After she put Pepper to bed, she slowly went to the large living area and sat down on the couch.

Tony stood with Pepper until he heard J.A.R.V.I.S. speak out, "Mr. Stark, Phantom wishes to speak you. She is in the main lounge area on the couch." Tony kissed Pepper's forehead and went out to where J.A.R.V.I.S. told him where Phantom was. When he arrived, he saw Phantom laying down on the couch with her right arm placed upon her forehead. Tony slowly approached the girl and saw that her eyes were shut, but then he heard her say out of no where, "Pepper needs cookies and orange juice. The extraction was like her giving blood away. She's going to be tired and needs the energy recharge. I'm gonna finish my food, wrap up the gifts, and then take off. I need to head back to the guild immediately." Phantom slowly stood up, went to the sink and drank all the water that she could. After ten minutes of drinking water, she went over to the food and chowed down all of the food that remained from the meal. Tony took the cookies and OJ to Pepper and made her eat and drink at Phantom's request. After Phantom ate, she wrapped up the gifts that she made and put them under the tree with her bought gifts. Phantom wrote a tiny note dedicated to the other Avengers about where she was going and why she got them the gifts that she did. She also happened to take a missile from Tony's weaponry.

* * *

After that, Phantom drove over to an airport and hijacked one of the helicopters and flew back to the Guild. When she arrived, she chose to the keep the keys in the copter and went to the door. She did the stomp, knock, clap, and kick sequence to show the guild that she wasn't an intruder. The door was open to the little girl who always opens the door. The girl didn't even have a chance to open her mouth until Phantom ordered with the look of murder in her eyes, "Corrine. Move. Now." The little girl straightened up a little bit from fear and moved to allow Phantom to enter. Phantom came in and went to her room. She took out some of her bombs that she acquired from different assignments and placed them all throughout the Guild grounds, and finally went straight to the Guild Master's room. Phantom, feeling angered and betrayed, entered the room without knocking. The Guild Master looked up from her paperwork and yelled, "PHANTOM! YOU KNOW BETTER THAN WALKING IN WITHOUT KNOCKING AND GAINING PERMISSION!" Phantom was not in the mood to take the woman's commanding tone and she stated calmly with a threatening look in her eyes, "I came for answers." The Guild Master's eyes narrowed at the young mercenary and warned, "Careful, Phantom. One might think your being insubordinate towards the Guild." Phantom kept her ground and replied calmly, "I have always been loyal to the Guild."

The Guild Master then smirked and yelled, "BRING IN SAKURAI!" A young soft red headed girl with soft green eyes walked into the room. She looked to be about seven years old and was very tiny for her age. She had a clear porcelain face free of any freckles. Phantom personally trained the girl in private interrogation methods and private medical procedures for creating antidotes to poisons. Phantom created a small connection to the young girl, but more of an apprentice and master type of relationship. The young girl went on her knees in a traditional Japanese geisha style and bowed her body at Phantom and the Guild Master. "This is how you're going to prove yourself loyal to the Guild. Sakurai here is the weak link of the trainees. We given her chances over the past three years and she has not improved in any physical training exercises, but rather on the torture, nor has she killed anything. We can no longer have her around. Prove your loyalty to us. Prove that you belong to us. Eliminate her," The Guild Master commanded Phantom while tossing her a scythe. Phantom caught it and swirled it around to show her expertise of the weapon. She looked down to the young girl who just had complete fear in her eyes. Phantom kept her stoic expression and thought, "I cannot do this anymore." Phantom sliced her scythe to the ground to keep in while stating, "I belong to no one." The Guild Master felt nothing but rage by one of her favorite yet most feared agent. The Guild Master put her hand on her sheathed sword that was on her right hip and threatened, "Phantom. This is your last warning. Kill Sakurai and prove your loyalty, or you will be claiming of leaving the Guild and face the ultimate punishment of desertion." Phantom held her ground and stated, "I choose to die free rather than live by your rules." The Guild Master felt nothing but hatred towards the young defiant girl. The Guild Master pulled her sword out, decapitated the young Sakurai, and pointed the blood stained blade at Phantom who just held her position with the look of death radiating from her eyes. "That's it. You are going to die for your insubordination," The Guild Master proclaimed to the young girl. Phantom kicked up her scythe, spun it around, and positioned it for a fight.

Phantom and the Guild Master were both positioned to fight. Both of the women held their position for a moment until The Guild Master made the initial attack. Phantom countered by having the scythe handle block the blade. The Guild Master pulled out some kunai and threw them at Phantom while holding the blade into position. Phantom raised her arm blocked the blades with the shackle on her wrist. Phantom then pulled out a small blade sword and swung at the Guild Master. The Master jumped out of harm's way. Phantom charged after her and proceeded to swing at Master with her sword and scythe. When she almost had the Master backed into the corner, one of the other children who went by the name of Osiris, intervened. Osiris had long spear and kept fighting her with their lancer weapons, but Phantom chose to hold back to try to reason with the man. "OSIRIS, STAY OUT OF MY WAY OR YOU WILL DIE BY MY BLADE!" Phantom tried to warn the man to stop fighting her. Osiris was just like her in the way that he was trained. He was an X-Genome altered mercenary that the Guild created. His abilities were to alter Aeros. Anytime Osiris would try to use his wind abilities to shoot Phantom into the air, she would have to use her Terra abilities to hold her feet to the ground all the while she would have to release it to dodge the next weapon attack. The man wouldn't say anything to her, but just kept fighting her. "Fine. I'll make you just like the true Osiris," Phantom stated. Phantom decided to stop holding back. Phantom swept the left leg which made Osiris kneel down. Phantom's eyes narrowed, and she seized the opportunity to show them why she was meant to be fear. She sliced Osiris leg clean in haft, then the other leg, followed with both of his arms, and left the body to just lay down and bleed out. Phantom placed her scythe blade on his neck and requested, "Repent being in this guild before you died. With your repentance, may you prosper in the next life." Osiris claimed to his killer, "Burn in hell." Phantom sighed at the man and decapitated him. She then turned her blade to the Guild Master and proclaimed with murder in her voice and eyes, "You're next. For making me kill my comrades, and trying to kill my friend, Tony."

Phantom's eyes then changed from their azure coloring to the color of blood red. Phantom could see the Guild Master's bloodstreams and tried to focus on the heart. The Master approached Phantom at an incredible speed, which made Phantom lose her focus on the heart. The Guild Master approached Phantom at an incredible speed and Phantom barely made it in time to block the attack with her scythe. "YOU WOULD BE NOTHING WITHOUT THIS GUILD! WITHOUT ME!" The Guild Master yelled at Phantom while attacking her. Phantom just kept blocking her attacks and chose to ignore her comments. "I KNEW I SHOULD HAVE LEFT YOU TO ROT IN THAT NO GOOD PATHETIC TOWN! NO ONE WANTED YOU THEN AND NO ONE WANTS YOU NOW! YOU BECAME COMPROMISED AND THAT IS WHY YOU COULDN'T FIND THE PERPETRATORS TO YOUR FAMILIES ASSAULT AND I COULD! YOU THINK THOSE PATHETIC AVENGERS WANT YOU! YOU HONESTLY BELIEVE THAT THEY CAN SAVE YOU AND YOUR SOUL! THEY ARE WEAK, PATHETIC, A WASTE OF TIME AND SPACE!" The Guild Master yelled at the young girl. "I need to finish this quick. I used too much energy to keep up my fight with Osiris, "Phantom thought to herself. Phantom felt her blood spike at the insults that the Guild Master was spitting about the Avengers. Phantom went from defensive to offensive. She swag at a faster pace than she had previously and it confused the Guild Master a little bit. Phantom did indeed confuse the Guild Master; she lost her form and allowed herself open for an attack. The Guild Master took one of the openings, pushed Phantom off her balance, and when Phantom lost her footing, Master sliced Phantom's left wrist and only left a little chunk to keep the hand connected to the arm. Blood can gushing out all at once, and the Guild Master took her opportunity to slice Phantom's right calf to make Phantom falter to her knee, and drew her blade to Phantom's neck. Phantom just kept her glare of hatred to her assailant. The Guild Master smirked at Phantom and swung her sword up to add her speed to her final attack.

The attack was launch, but was interrupted by a thick metal staff that belonged to a low ponytail brunette tan male in his mid-teens standing at 5'5". He had large cat-eyes that shown like the sun that were narrowed in focus to the woman before him a. He had a white shirt with loose, above-elbow sleeves, off-white jeans held by a black belt, and white shoes. Over the shirt is a red was a vest-like garment with black trim. The interior appears to be completely black. The garment was fastened by a black over-shoulder belt. Further, he wears white and black shoulder guards, with white, claw-like spikes curving from the black trim. Majority of the guards were covered by a goldenrod cape, which slings over his shoulders, and what seems to be a white infinity scarf. Around his wrists, he wears red wristbands with white trim. He also had a gold diadem that was around his head. The Guild Master narrowed her eyes at the young boy who blocked her attack and asked, "You're choosing to help a traitor, Sun Wukong?" The boy smirked at her, to show his fanged teeth, while keeping his narrowed eyes and replied, "She's my comrade. We ride and die together." The Guild Master then felt even more hatred for the girl who was still kneeled before her and thought, "Dammit. When it comes to strength, I can't beat Sun Wukong. I could barely beat Phantom with skill because I got into her head. I need to finish this now." The Guild Master then withdrew her attack, swept his feet, and when he jumped out of the way, she used the momentum and hit him to the wall across the room. The hit was so hard that it made a giant indent in the wall. When he tried to get back to her, she threw several knives that held him to his place and prevent him from moving. She turned back to Phantom, who was still kneeling and glaring at her. The Guild Master approached her slowly and when she got into the proximity, she raised her sword up to strike Phantom with her final attack. Right before she got the final swing, the Master felt something pierce her check, her legs, her arms, and her stomach. She looked down and saw that spears made of blood came from the floor and she couldn't fall forward or backward due to the blood spears. Phantom held a smirk on her face. Phantom rose to her feet, grabbed her scythe, and turned to the Guild Masters back and placed her scythe around the woman's neck. "Now I want to know. Where are the bodies, who hired the murderer of my family, and I want an apology. For the Avengers, for those you've murdered and tortured, and to me." The woman only spat blood at her and claimed, "I'm not saying anything." Phantom knew that the woman truly wouldn't apologize, so she did what she was trained to do: decapitation. Phantom used all of her strength in her right arm to fully decapitate the woman. After Phantom finished her slice and kneeled to the floor.

Phantom used a little of what was left of her power and removed the knives from Sun Wukong. Sun Wukong ran up to Phantom and swept her up to his arms. "Phantom, I need to get you out of here now. Once the Guild realizes that you killed Master, you'll never make it out of here alive," The young warrior told the bleeding mercenary. Phantom raised her right arm to the decapitated head and stated, "The head… you can… use the head… for profit. Heli… copter… outside… Stark… Home…" Phantom's arm then fell and she leaned on his chest and tried not to fall asleep. Sun Wukong took the head into a plastic bag, put it into his backpack, walked out of the room with Phantom in his arms, and went to leave the house, but was stop by the other three top fighters of the Guild. The one to the right was a black haired man with very pale skin and had a two swords strapped to his sides. He had one black eye with a giant scar that went from his right cheek up to his forehead that damaged his right eye. He wore an all black yukata with Japanese Getas. The one to the right was a man with man with dark brown hair that was slicked to the back and one golden eye and one black eye. He wore black tight leather pants with a black skirt, and a black leather jacket. He had three khopesh strapped to his back. The final one in the middle was the largest of the three. He was a giant man who had a black button up shirt that was open at the top to reveal giant scars all over his chest. His shirt sleeves were rolled up to his elbows to reveal more of his scars. He had a giant scimitar strapped to his left side. "Su Wukong. What happened to Phantom? Why don't you take her to the medical wing?" The middle one questioned the boy with a threatening look deep within his eyes. "I was told to take her to a limb regenerating hospital, Shinigami, Baal, Anubis," Sun told the men as he walked pass them.

Phantom, who was still awake, knew that the men were going to report the dead Guild Master, and once they find the bodies, there would be Hell to pay. As Sun ran out of the building, Phantom whispered, "Wait. If we leave this way, we will be killed within a week by the avenging Guild members. I'm going to use the remained power that I have to set the building to the ground. Get into the copter and fly out to a safe distance and I'll do the rest." Sun ran them to the helicopter and flew them out to a safe distance. Phantom positioned the missile to her room of the guild and shot it to the room. Unfortunately, Baal, Anubis, and Shinigami all realized what had happened by that point and ran outside. Anubis was one the hydrokinetic experiments of the Guild, so he used his abilities of water manipulation to catch the missile before it hit Phantom's target. "SHIT! PHANTOM, WHAT DO WE DO NOW?!" Sun yelled to the girl who was leaning against the helicopter's doorway. "Don't worry. I got this. After the exposition goes off, get me to Stark Towers," Phantom ordered the young boy. Phantom used her remaining abilities and concentrated the friction between a little snap that she did with her fingers. She sped up energy level of the snap to create a small flame within her hand. After she created the small flame, she had oxygen absorbed into it to make it bigger, and once she get to the desired size, she pressed it down to a small little orb of fire. She took some sand that she secretly had stashed in a small vial that she grabbed when she grabbed the explosives. She surrounded the fire orb with the sand and created a glass ball with fire inside of it. Phantom then concentrated on the fire inside of the glass ball and sped up the molecules to create electric bolts within the sphere. Phantom used the last of her strength and threw the ball straight where the missile was. When Anubis caught the sphere with the water that was connected to the missile, Phantom snapped her fingers which caused the glass ball to shatter, and allowed the bolts of electricity to surround the water and caused the missile to exploded. The explosion caused the other explosives around the house and the area to cause of chain of explosions. Phantom watched as the area of torture and regret go up in flames. "Goodbye," Phantom said sadly to the burning area and shut the helicopter door. After the door shut, Phantom fell to the floor and Sun Wukong wanted to take care of her, but he heeded her orders and took her Stark Towers.

* * *

I do not own anything except Phantom and the Guild/members.

YAY! I'M DONE! Next coming up in the Avengers is "Coming Home for Christmas." What is going to happen for the Avengers? How will Phantom recover from her injuries? Will they need to amputate her arm or even worse?! Stay tune. THANKS FOR READING!


	5. Holidays with the Avengers

When Su Wukong made it to the landing pad of Stark Tower, he immediately switched off the helicopter, picked up Phantom, and ran her inside. When the door wouldn't open, he used his inhuman strength to kick open the glass doors. After a moment, a man in an Iron Suit flew into room and saw the young boy holding a bleeding out Phantom in his arms. Tony felt immediate concern for the young dying girl in a mysterious boy's arms. He saw that her left hand was almost amputated off except for a little muscle and skin keeping it attached. He also saw that her leg and torso was cut open. She seemed to have been unconscious and was remaining to bleed out. Tony raised his blasters to the young boy and ordered slowly with a low commanding tone, "Put Phantom down now, brat." The young boy wasn't fazed by the man's threat. He kept a stoic expression at the man and claimed with his own low voice, "Phantom strictly ordered me to bring her here. She's unconscious and needs a bath tub, now." Tony flew up to take the girl, but the boy held her closer than what she was and stated, "I've got her. Just take me to the tub." Tony saw that the young boy cared for the girl, so he took them to the spa bathtub that she used to help Pepper. Sun Wukong gave Phantom to the older man, took out some medical powder that he used for his own injuries, and put it in the filling bathtub. After the water filled to the appropriate level, Sun Wukong took Phantom from Tony, and placed her gently into the hot watered tub. Sun Wukong made one phone call to the only mutated hydrokinetic doctor that he found while he was on an assignment once. The phone rang several times until a man with a bass voice picked up, "Hello. May I ask who's calling?" Sun Wukong replied to him, "It's Sun Wukong. I have a girl who desperately need emergency medical attention now. I have someone who will pick you up, and you could be here in twenty minutes. Please, I'll pay you." The man remained quiet for a moment and replied, "Have him meet me at the Salem Center Town Hall in ten minutes." Sun Wukong stated okay and turned to Tony. "Mr. Stark. I'm a close colleague of Phantom's and I have arranged for a doctor to come here to heal Phantom. I just need you to go pick him up at the Salem Center Town Hall while I watch Phantom." Tony being who he was, put his hand on his hip, and stated, "And pray tell, why should I allow some bossy brat stay in my house while I go run his errand?" The boy gave a smirk and replied, "Phantom is bleeding out and needs a doctor of his caliber. Either you go get him while I watch Phantom, or you could lend me the suit and I can go get him while you watch Phantom." Tony looked at Phantom with concern and stated, "I'll be back as soon as I can. Don't destroy my place, don't allow Phantom to die, and don't touch my stuff." Tony then flew out and went to go pick up the man that the young boy told him to get.

Tony got to the Town Hall in a matter of minutes and waited for the man in the picture that the young boy sent to his suit. The man arrived within three minutes and when Tony walked up to him, he looked immediately afraid. The man was a middle aged man who had little wrinkles on his face. He had a little mole on his right cheek and had deep sea green eyes that had a tad of blue hidden in them. He also had black short hair that was slicked over to his left side. He had a little of a muscular built and seemed to be 6'1". He had on a navy button up shirt with a dress coat and black dress pants on. He also had on black leather dress shoes with navy socks and a black briefcase. Tony lifted his facemask and asked, "Hello, are you the doc that the kid requested to get picked up?" The man nodded his head slowly and Tony slung him over his shoulder and flew off back to the tower. The man screamed in protest the entire time until Tony reached the Tower and landed them on the Iron Man Pad. Tony put him down and had the suit taken off of and he walked the man to the spa. When they arrive, Tony pointed the doctor to the tub and when the doctor looked inside, he immediately felt as if he was going to throw up. "What happened to this poor girl? Did you do this, Sun Wukong?" The doctor asked the young man. "Phantom was attacked. She'll tell you about it later if she wants to, Dr. Rios," Sun Wukong answered the doctor. Dr. Rios then took a couple of deep breaths, took a lab coat out of his briefcase, and stated, "I'll see what I can do. I can repair the muscles and the cells, but I won't be able to do the nerves. I'm sorry, but I'll do what I can." The doctor went to work on the poor unconscious girl.

"So, are you all going to introduce yourselves or am I supposed to guess? I mean you all are in my house and all," Tony asked the two unknown man. The young teenage man turned to Tony, smirked, and stated, "Hello, Mr. Stark. I am the ex-mercenary of the Guild of The Erinyes, the Guild that Phantom was in. I go by the code name of Sun Wukong. I'm apologize for my intrusion, oh great Iron Man." Tony's eyebrow twitched at the young man who sassed him. Tony turned to the working doctor and asked, "And you are?" The doc just kept to his work and stated, "My name is Dr. Rios. I am a Bio-genetic Scientist with mutation genes. After I finish here, I will leave you." Tony's eyebrow twitched even more and thought, "Why does he remind of Phantom? Constantly working then trying to leave after they're done." Tony sighed and just watched the man go to work on his poor friend. His process of water manipulation was very similar to Phantom's. There were streams of water that went into the body, while others slithered over the wounds to the repair them from the inside out. Tony got to see with his own eyes that the water was reattaching the bones and muscles all at once. After the basis of that was done, the skin began to repair itself and Tony got to see that most of the body was repaired except for what looked like cuts and some bruising. The doctor took his bloodied hands out of the water, went over to the sink, and washed them out while stating, "I've done all the repairs that will keep her alive, but as I stated, I cannot fix nerves. I will bandage up the rest of the cut wounds, but the worst of all of it is repaired. Mr. Stark, I will need you to take me back to the Salem Center Town Hall after I finish wrapping the girl. I suggest that you get another doctor to come in and change her bandages at least three times a day. Sun Wukong, just consider this a returned favor from me, no payment necessary. As for the girl, she will need some physical therapy after this to get her body used to working with all those damaged nerves, and she now owes me a favor."

The young boy named Sun nodded at the doctor, went over to Phantom, took her out of the water, and walked with the doctor to an empty bed in the medical wing of the tower. "So, Doc, how did you get those mutated abilities? Do you have any others? Were they born with or imprinted? You got any kids like you?" The doctor, who was wrapping the young mercenary before him stated, "I was born with my kinetic abilities. I am a purely hydrokinetic mutant, and if you don't tell anyone I would greatly appreciate it. I work for the Xavier School for Gifted Youngsters as a teacher, so I'm legal in governmental status. As for children… I lost my children years ago, as well as my wife. It was an accident and I think of what I could have done to prevent it everyday." After the doctor didn't say another word after that even when Tony really want some answers. When he finished, the doctor washed his hands and arms again, put his lab coat in the briefcase, and waiting by the glass doors to be taken back. "Hey Doc, do you need some food or water before you leave?" Tony asked cautiously to the poor man. "No. I have some water in my car back at Salem, so I'll be fine. Just take me back," The man requested as he looked outside with pure depression within his green eyes. Tony wanted to push the issue and try to see if a dot would connect, but he knew that the poor man needed his space, so he obliged to take him back. After Tony finished flying the man back, he put him down, bowed to him as Phantom does when she is thankful, and expressed, "Thank you for saving Phantom. She means a lot to the Avengers and me. And I know I shouldn't press the issue further, but if you ever want to talk about losing your family to anyone, no one would know that better than her. I think you two could help heal each other." The doctor turned to Tony and Tony got to fully see the man's emotions. He had true despair within his eyes and he replied, "I'll keep that in mind, and when the time comes, have her come see me." Tony nodded to the man, placed his facemask down, and flew back to the tower.

When he got back, he went to Phantom's room and saw that the sassy teen had tucked her in and was watching her intently. "Hey, Sunny…" the boy then shot a glare at the man and demanded, "Don't. Only she gets to call me that." Tony put his hands up jokingly at the boy's threat and stated, "Sorry, sorry. Ray of Sunshine, I'm going to call my doc to come in to treat her, and order some food for her for when she wakes up. You want any?" The boy just kept his watch on Phantom and questioned, "You're allowing me to stay, even though I'm not an Avenger?" Tony put his hands in his pocket and stated, "You're a comrade of Phantom's, therefore a comrade of mine. If she wants you to stay, you can stay. If you want to leave to do mercenary work and not be an Avenger, that's up to you. I can't control what you do, just like I can't control Phantom. I can try, but you and I both know that she won't allow that. You're your own people, and therefore, you have your own life and decisions to make. Now, you want food or not?" The boy smiled, walked away and out the room, and waved as he stated, "Normally, I would tell you to get me the same thing that she is getting, and not allow us to share, because we'll both be hungry afterwards, but I need to leave. I have a package that needs to be delivered for her. She'll call me when she wakes up." Before Tony could call out to him, the boy already managed to get to the helicopter and fly off to the west.

Tony began to make his calls. His first to the only doctor who he knew that had concern for Phantom and had several PHD's. The phone only rang several times until the man answered, "Hello?" Tony smiled at the voice and responded, "Hey Brucie. I need you at the tower. I need an experience doctor to come help my "ward."" Bruce remained silent for a slight moment until he questioned, "You have a ward? As in someone who lives and needs you to survive?" Tony wanted to laugh, but he responded, "Yeah. She really doesn't show her face much, incredible sassy, and a warrior type, but she's really hurts and needs someone to rewrap her bandages at least three times a day until she wakes up." Bruce immediately knew who what he was talking about and stated, "I will be there as fast as I can." Tony then made his next call to the one other adult who needed to know about Phantom since he was asking about her since she disappeared from them all. The phone rang for the longest amount of time until the one man he couldn't stand picked up, "Hello? Is this Genius Hotrod?" Tony began to start laughing as hard as he did the other times he changed the man's contacts. "I SWEAR TO GOD, EVERYTIME CAPSICLE! WILL YOU EVER CATCH ON TO KNOW THAT IT'S ME?!" Steve tried to interject the man, but whenever he did, Tony would just keep laughing. "STARK, WHY EXACTLY DID YOU CALL ME?!" Steve yelled when he felt himself growing impatient. Tony then calmed himself down and stated, "Well, Phantom's at the tower right now. She's really hurt, and I thought that you would want to see her especially since she's injured so bad, but I guess…" Steve immediately stopped Tony's speech with one line, "PHANTOM'S HURT?! AND SHE'S AT THE TOWER?! I'LL BE THERE AS SOON AS I CAN GET THERE! I'M ON MY WAY NOW!" Then Steve hung up the phone, which made Tony tsked and stated, "Well, wasn't he in a hurry." Tony made his other calls to the other Avengers and they all told him that they were on their way to come see the poor girl.

Tony began to wonder how he going to contact Thor, but in the middle of his thought process, Thor appeared on the landing pad. Thor strode into the house and demanded from Tony, "Man of Iron. Where is the Child of Aspirations? I received word that she was struck and now is in need of healing expertise. I wish to take her to Asgard for healing immediately." Tony put up his hands and stated, "Woah, woah, woah. Shakespeare. The kid's in the medical wing. She's resting now. I already brought someone in who healed in the worst injuries, now she's just resting up. She'll be up when she gets up. Let's let Brucie see her injuries first, then decided whether she needs to Asgard with you okay?" Thor looked at Tony with concentrated eyes and nodded his head. Tony showed Thor to the medical wing and Thor looked at her intently, "What has transpired to this maiden? She is heavily bandaged and has many bruises. Stark, how did come to happen?" Tony shrugged his shoulders and stated, "I don't know. She was here yesterday, then she left and came back looking worse than this. Part of her hand was amputated off and the doctor had to repair it back on, but he couldn't do anymore than that. When Phantom wakes up, we'll make her explain what happened." Thor nodded his head, understanding that Tony truly didn't know anything about Phantom's situation. "Sorry to bother you gentleman, but Captain Rogers is in the main lounge area with Dr. Banner." Tony looked at Thor and stated, "I'm gonna go get them okay? Watch Phantom and if she wakes up tell JARVIS and we'll get here as fast as we can." Thor nodded at Tony and continued his watch of the damaged girl.

When Tony walked in the lounge area, he saw both Bruce and Tony were both still standing and waiting for him to arrive. "How is she?" Steve asked directly to Tony. "She's asleep. I don't know her exact medical analysis, but that's why Bruce is here. I'll take you to her now, but don't try to wake her up." Both of the men nodded and Tony walked them to the medical room. When they both walked in, the two men had different reactions. Bruce looked really sad at the young girl, while Steve gasped in horror at the unconscious injured girl before him. Steve ran to her side, stroked her cheek, and whispered, "Poor Phantom. You didn't deserve this pain." Bruce allowed Steve to have his moment until he intervened by putting his hand on Steve's shoulder and claimed, "Steve. I need to check her vitals and see if she needs any other treatments." Steve moved out of the way. Bruce began to go to work to check her vitals and everything seemed fine, except on her left arm. He couldn't get the fingers to move nor twitch, which indicated that the nerves were damaged. When he tried to see where the nerves were ending, a phone began to ring throughout the room. The song was "Behind These Hazel Eyes," by Kelly Clarkson. Everyone looked around and noticed that the song came from Phantom's right front pocket. Everyone looked back and forth until Tony stated, "Dammit, I'll pick it up." Tony reached into her pocket and pulled out her phone. "Stark, you shouldn't snoop in Phantom's business," Steve tried to tell Tony. "She is my ward. I can do what I want. I paid for the damn phone and the damn service, so therefore it's mine, and that I can look through it if I want. It's called "Parental Logic." Can't fight it." Tony looked down and saw that it said: Monkey Boy. Tony started to die of laughter. "OH MY GOD! IT SAYS "MONKEY BOY!" I NEED TO ANSWER THIS!" Tony pressed the connect button and the young sassy boy that was in his house earlier answered, "PHANTOM, YOU'RE AWAKE ALREADY?!" Tony started to die even more. "YOU'RE "MONKEY BOY" ON HER PHONE! THAT IS PRICELESS! SHE REALLY IS MY CHILD! HAHAHA!" The other side of the line was silent for a moment until he stated, "Have Phantom call me when she wakes up." The poor teased boy just hung up the phone on the dying man.

Tony put her phone on the table next to her bed, and Bruce proceeded to do his work on the young mercenary. He started to attach machines to get her heartrate, anesthetic, and dialysis. Everyone else took a seat somewhere within the room and watched the man do his work. While he did his work, Agent Romanoff and Agent Barton came walking in together and when they saw the poor girl hooked up to various machines to support her body, they had different expressions on their face. Natasha kept her usual stoic look, but Clint's eye softened. "Poor kid. She's probably been in and out of medical rooms in the past four or five years. That's when her name came out in the mercenary world. I remember when I first met her. Don't you, Nat?" Natasha only nodded her head at Clint's question. He continued, "She was a tiny thing. Couldn't believe how good she was at that age. She took down fifteen trained S.H.E.I.L.D. agents all on her own. When I tried to take her away, she always told me that she needed to stay where she was to get answers that only they knew about." Steve and Tony's eyes softened even more than how soft they were before. "I can't believe the poor kid has been doing this for five years, plus time prepared for training to do this kind of work. She's between the ages of thirteen and eighteen, so when she started would have to have been eight to thirteen years old, and killing people at that age? It must have taken such traumatic tolls on her. I couldn't image going through what she went through," Tony thought to himself. While Tony had this thought, Steve had his own thought, "Poor Phantom. She probably just needed someone who care for her around. When she wakes up, I'm going to try to get her away from her mercenary work and try to get her to achieve a normal life."

Bruce just kept working on her injuries, until he grabbed a syringe full of morphine to reduce her pain, when Steve interjected, "Wait, wait, wait! You're going to give her drugs in her sleep?" Bruce knew where this was heading and he responded, "Steve, these injuries are probably hurting her really bad. I'm giving her some pain relief so she can sleep easier." Tony was about to interject when he accidently dropped the syringe when Thor stood up abruptly. When the syringed hit the floor, the glass shattered, the morphine spilled out, and Phantom shot up from her sleeping form. She immediately began to panic and remove all of the medical machinery that was attached to her body. When she tried to use her left hand, she realized that it was completely numb and that she couldn't move her fingers. Everyone turned their attention to the girl who was blocking her face with her right arm and breathing heavily. "Woah, woah, woah. Phantom, sweetheart. You gotta calm down. You're at Avengers Tower. You're no longer at the Guild. You're safe with us, sweety," Tony stated as he attempted to put down her arm, lean his forehead against hers, as she did to him when he was feeling panicked, and stroke the back of her head. She was shaking just a little bit as she calmed her breathing down. Everyone, except for Phantom, raised their eyebrows about Tony's action. This was the genius, billionaire, playboy for God's sake. He never seemed to have the parental instincts that this man before them possessed.

As Tony comforted the distressed girl, the phone rang again in a split second to another song. It was a Chinese Bamboo and Silk ensemble piece that no one recognized except for Bruce. The title said "Koto-san," which made Tony uneasy. "Koto-san? Who the hell is Koto-san? Some samurai that trains you in swordsmanship?" Tony then answered the call and asked, "Hello, who is this?" An older Japanese man answered, "This is Koto. I'm calling for Phantom. Her items are ready to be picked up and this is the number she left for me to call her." Tony replied his thanks, told him that someone was going to pick it up for her, and then hung up. He turned to the others and stated, "Well, apparently Phantom has some items that were made and now that they're ready and need to be picked up. Who wants to go?" Phantom then tried to get out of her bed while stating, "I'll go get them. They're my problem, therefore my responsibility. I'll got drive out to Koto-san's shop, but I need a car because I don't believe I can't drive my cycle." Steve immediately came up on her and tried to push her back into her bed while stating, "Oh, no, no, no. You're staying in bed. You're hurt and need time to recover. We'll go get your items, and you can stay in bed and allow Bruce to finish her medical examination of your injuries." Phantom pushed his hands away gently while stating, "Rogers, this is my responsibility. My injuries will be healed later, but I need to go get this stuff for you guys. The quicker I leave, the quicker I can get back and get my wounds healed, but those items are first priority at this moment in time. I'm leaving whether you like it or not."

Phantom then tried to sit up and realized something felt off. She began to try to squeeze her left hand, but realized that it wasn't responding. "Dammit, of all the things that could happen. My fucking left hand is paralyzed or the nerves are damaged and I have to fucking fix it. God, frack me with a fucking chainsaw. Banner, do you have an arm sling that I may borrow?" Bruce nodded his head, went to his medical bag, and gave the arm sling to Phantom, who was able to put it on by herself by using her right arm and her teeth. She then sat up and realized that she was still in her outfit from the other day and how it was cut up. "Damn, I need to bathe and change clothes before I go," Phantom said as she realized that she was dirty and in torn up clothing. She attempted to get out of bed, but her legs were still extremely weak and in pain. That she couldn't even stand up for a couple of seconds, until she had to sit back down on the bed while exclaiming, "Damn. I can't even fucking stand up properly. Probably because I didn't obtain my proper reenergizing sleep amount." Tony then came over to her with a wheelchair. "Here. I knew how bad your injuries were bad, so I had this bought for you. Someone is going to have to push and roll you around, though," Tony stated while he placed her in the chair. Phantom just sat there for a moment and stated, "I need to go to the bathroom. I don't care who takes me, but I need to take a bath and change my clothes." Everyone looked at Natasha, but she shook her head and stated, "I have to leave for my assignment. I just came to see how she's doing, and now I'm heading out. Clint, you coming too?" Clint nodded his head and they both left. Phantom then looked at the remaining Avengers and asked, "So who's taking me to my bathroom?" The four remaining men just glanced back and forth from each other. It took a moment of the men just looking around at each other until Phantom couldn't take, "Oh, for fuck's sake. You each get a fucking job. Bruce, you're going to help me unchanged and help me into the tub. Steve, you're going to transport me from the tub to the shower. Thor, you're going to support me while I take a shower. Tony, you're going to help me into my clothes after I'm done. Everyone gets the same amount of comfortability, or lack of. Thor, when you're supporting me, you need to wear a pair of swim trunks, and I'll have a towel surrounding my torso as I wash my hair. Does that seem fair?" All the men looked at each other and agreed to Phantom's terms.

Bruce was the first one up and he rolled Phantom over to the elevator and pushed the up button. When he got inside, he looked really confused by the buttons, but Phantom remembered what Tony had told her before she did Pepper's extraction. Phantom pushed the scythe button and the elevator took them to her floor. Bruce wheeled her to the master bedroom, then to her master bathroom. The bathroom was all white that had a separate shower and large bathtub. The shower could fit several people within in while the tub could hold three or four of her. The tub was all white and had the faucet at one side of the tub. The shower was all white as well but it had a granite shell that had Pantene shampoo and conditioner and Noxzema, while on the table near the tub had Bath and Body Works Cherry Blossom soap along with cherry blossom medical bath salts and bath bubble liquid. There was also a vanity with a pull out chair for her to sit and do her makeup that was a little way away from the actual sink. In the top drawer of the bathroom had a variety of colored mask that Phantom could have worn. The middle drawer had feminine products and the bottom drawer had a vast amount of Bath and Body Works soap, bath salts, bath bubble liquids, toothpaste, mouthwash, Noxzema, and a variety of luffas. Underneath the sink had many different white towels that ranged from head, hair, hand, torso, and beach towels. Phantom had Bruce take her to the tub and she had hot water fill up the tub while using the bath bubble liquid to form as many bubbles as she could. After it filled up, Phantom placed the bath salts within the tub, grabbed one torso towel, a luffa, a hand towel, and a beach towel.

Phantom had Bruce roll her close to the tub, and she proceeded to undress herself as much as she could. She began with having Bruce turn around for a split second while she took off her mask and put on the hand towel on her face. She told Bruce that it was okay, and then she took off the arm sling. She then took off her shirt with ease with her right arm. Bruce noticed her scars more than he did when he examined her. Her scars were faded as he suspected that they would have been since she has been in the mercenary league for so long. Phantom then had Bruce help her take off her shorts. Phantom had Bruce hand her the torso towel that she wrapped around her body and over her underwear and bra. Phantom squirmed her way out of her underwear, and tried to unlatched her bra single handedly, but she couldn't fully achieve it. Bruce undid the last latch and Phantom slipped out of the bra with the towel on. Phantom then threw the bra over to the rest of the dirty clothes that Bruce took and placed within her hamper. Phantom waited until Bruce returned to her side, and she held her towel as he picked her up and placed her into the bubble filled tub. "She's really light. I didn't expect her to be this light that even I wouldn't have trouble lifting her, but her weight is really light," Bruce thought to himself. "You need anything else from me, Phantom?" Phantom only shook her head and responded, "No, thank you, Bruce, for helping me."

When Bruce stepped out of the bathroom, Phantom removed her towels, put on her Noxzema, and began to scrub her body as quickly as she could before Steve showed up. It was a little difficult to do her right arm due to her left hand, but she managed to do it thoroughly. After she finished scrubbing, she heard a knock at the door with Steve yelling, "Hey Phantom. Are you decent enough for me to take you to the shower? Thor's out here too ready to help you stay up." Phantom washed out her Noxzema, put on the hand towel back on her face, grabbed her body towel, and wrapped it around herself while she was in the tub, causing it to get soaked. As Thor and Steve listen in to the sounds of the bathroom and when they heard lots of splashing coming from the inside, they looked at each other. "Is she going to be alright?" Thor asked Steve. "I think she's going…" After she finished wrapping the towel and relaxed for a second, she yelled to the men, cutting off Steve, "OKAY, I'M READY!" Steve's face immediately blushed out and Thor noticed, "Dear Captain of the Americas, are you alright? Are you running a fever? You're face is redder than the eyes of the Frost Giants of Jotunheim." Steve just nodded his head frivolously, shakenly reached out, and opened the door with no confidence. Both men walked in to see Phantom sitting on the edge of the tub with her back to them. Her hair was whisked over her right shoulder to the front of her body to expose her hair neck and shoulders. Her towel was wet and was hugging her form seductively. Steve's face grew hotter in that moment and even more red than it was before. He froze in his spot until Thor pushed him towards the tub. Phantom looked over shoulder at the two men and she had no emotion within her eyes.

Steve shakenly reached out towards her and Phantom just raised her left eyebrow at him. "Umm, I think you need to pick me up. I don't think I can jump up into your arms. Also I think you should lose your shirt, it will get soaked." Steve's lips tightened, he took off his shirt, and he nodded slightly at her while sweeping her up into his arms in a princess-style. Steve noticed where he placed his hands and he felt his body growing stiff. He placed his right hand on the middle of her torso in between her breast and hip and his arm and his left hand was placed underneath her thighs and was placed on the side of her right thigh. He felt that he skin were incredibly soft and lush. He stiffly carried her to the shower. Phantom felt that her body was showing so she covered her womanhood and her breast. Steve glanced down at her form while he was walking and he noticed that the white towel was sheer due to it being soaked. Her breast were bigger than he expected and she had a barely noticeable six-pack. Her body was really toned but yet it looked really soft and smooth. When Steve made it to the shower, he gently placed her onto her feet and she leaned against the wall of the shower near the shower faucet.

Thor then came up on her wearing only a pair swim trunks, and Phantom had to admit it: that Jane Foster had it good with having Thor. He was an amazing piece of a man as was Steve's, especially since Steve's torso was wet due to her soaking body. "Daaaaaaamn. Those are some fine ass men. They got some nice abs and arms… damn. I want to lick those abs and arms, and give some hickeys on those muscular necks…. Wait …. NO! Damn my teenage libido. I need to get a grip," Phantom stated as she mentally slapped herself to bring her back to earth. Meanwhile while she was staring, so were the men. "My, my, my. She has less of a warrior's body and more like a seductress dancer's body," Thor thought as he "observed" her body. "Wow… I don't think I've seen a woman's body like that in real life. NO, I SHOULDN'T THINK THAT WAY OF A LADY," Steve thought to himself. Thor then causally walked into the shower as Steve showed himself out, and Phantom turned on the hot water.

"So Thor, I just need you to hold up my body and my towel as I wash my hair. Just… hold my torso, okay?" Phantom explained to Thor and successfully trying not to show her embarrassment. Thor pulled Phantom to the middle of the shower, pulled her close to his body, and supported her gently yet forcefully. Phantom's body and face immediately heated up as she felt his hard body pressed against her back and his hands so strong against her hips in her thin towel. "THOR, NOT SO CLOSE! JUST HOLD MY BODY AWAY FROM YOURS SO I CAN REMAIN STANDING!" Phantom yelled at Thor due to her embarrassment. Thor laughed at her response and held her in the position that she desired. "She really was very soft much like a dancer is," Thor thought to himself. When Phantom removed her hands from their position and she realized her towel was starting to slip from the top, so she asked calmly, "Umm, Thor. Would you mind holding my body from my upper body, like underneath my armpits and near my… breast? My towel is beginning to slip at the top." Thor then slid his hands up slowly to get to their position that Phantom requested and it made Phantom want to shiver due to his slow touch. After they were in position, Phantom just began to add the shampoo in her hair and she warned Thor to shut his eyes. Thor did as she instructed and shut his eyes as she washed her hair. Thor held on a little tight as he put his hands around her a tad bit more near her breast and it made Phantom blush thoroughly. Thor did a slight squeeze on her side of her breast and he immediately thought, "Ooooo… she has larger breast than I originally thought and they are so much softer than I thought as well. Well done, Phantom." Phantom felt the squeeze and used it as an inspiration. She washed her hair faster than she ever had before and when she finished, Thor lifted her up princess style and placed her on the chair by the vanity. "Thank you, Thor. Stark's going to be here soon and I can handle myself until then," Phantom stated to Thor still embarrassed at Thor touching her. Thor bowed to her as she tossed him one of her beach towels and he left leaving her alone.

Phantom took off her wet towel, placed a dry beach towel on her to try to dry herself off. She also took out a hair towel and placed it on her head. She immediately placed a black lacy bra on her breast and put on black bikini panties that had a lace pattern that matched the bra. She used her right arm to keep the bra in place as she waited for Tony to show up. Tony and Bruce walked up to her bathroom door and knocked on the door. "Come in, Stark," Phantom yelled to the door. Tony and Bruce then came in and they saw her sitting on the vanity chair while holding her chest. Toy came up behind her and latched the bra on the first set of latches. Bruce went to work to changing the wet bandages while Tony helped dress her. Tony handed her a black shirt that had black see through lace at the top and over the shoulders and the sleeves that went a little pass her elbows that he helped her to put on. The shirt was really tight at her breast and loose at her midriff. The shirt also had an opening by the black part of the shirt and the lace that accented her people to look at her cleavage. He also handed her a pair of black skinny jeans that he also helped her to put on. He handed her a pair of white low ankle socks that she put on, on her own. Tony then handed him a pair of low black leather boots with a two inch extension. Phantom raised her eyebrow at him and he explained, "You're not gonna walk anyway. Might as well look good. Look over function as of today." Phantom shrugged and put on the heels.

Phantom took off her towel, combed her hair, and blew it out. Her hair came out naturally straight and Tony asked, "Is your hair always this naturally straight?" Phantom just nodded her head and just shook it out a little to allow it to be loosen out. Phantom took out some of her makeup and a single facemask. Phantom put on eye-liner, very light red eyeshadow that she put into a smoky blend using light pink, light red, and a tad darker red, and some mascara to make her eyelashes look even bigger than before. After she finished her makeup, she instructed Tony to turn around, which he reluctantly did, and put on her facemask. She had Tony go over to her and latch it up for her.

Tony then pushed Phantom into the lounge area and saw that all of the men except for Clint and Fury were all sitting. Thor just looked too comfortable to her liking, meanwhile Bruce was on his laptop, and Steve just sat in his spot with embarrassment on his face. When Tony and Phantom got to the position that the men were, Phantom asked, "So, who all is going with me to go get my things?" All the men just looked at each other. Steve stood up and stated, "I'll drive." Thor then rose from his seat and stated, "I wish to go as well. I wish to see your customary "Christmas."" Tony just looked down at Phantom for approval and she nodded at him to give her consent. "I have some cars in the garage. I'll give you the one that has the most space and that is the safest," Tony stated while walking over to where he kept his keys. He tossed the keys to car, and Thor wheeled Phantom out of the room with Steve following them after he and Tony had a whispering conversation. "You watch her, okay? Ever since she came back, she's been acting off to me. I'm scared she's going to take off if we give her the opportunity. And keep your hands off. Don't think I haven't seen the way you watch her. You've been giving her the eye since when you saw her on the helicarrier. You're an old man and she's young enough to be your great-granddaughter," Tony warned/threatened the Captain. Steve nodded, glared at Tony's shot, and replied quietly, "I don't what you're talking about. I'll watch Phantom, but she's a big girl. She can do what she wants." Steve then walked to the other two heroes who had already left the room.

When they got to the garage, Phantom pressed the alarm button and all three of the warriors heard a large sound coming from a big vehicle. It came from an all-black 2012 Mercedes-Benz GL-4500. "Wow, Stark really needs expensive cars in all forms doesn't he?" Phantom commented with as much sarcasm as she could muster. Steve just laughed at her comment while Thor just replied not understand sarcasm, "I don't believe he needs luxurious items." Phantom laughed at Thor's innocence, patted his forearm, and stated, "Big Guy, I gotta teach you sarcasm." Steve opened the front seat for Phantom, picked her up, placed her in the seat, and tried to buckle her seatbelt. Phantom just fussed and stated with sass due to her embarrassment, "Rogers, I can buckle my own seat, thank you." Steve shook his head at her defiance and buckled it for her against her protest. After he shut the door, Phantom took a moment to observe the vehicle. It was completely grayish black leather interior on the seats, steering wheel, and pretty much everywhere else. The cup holder and radio had gold wooden exterior, which Phantom knew cost more.

There was an Aux cord ready for Phantom to use, so she plugged in her Starkphone and put on her Christmas music playlist. Thor came in from the backseat and questioned, "What is this music?" Phantom turned to him with excitement and responded, "This is the Irving Berlin Medley. I adore this piece." Thor nodded at her excitement and chose to observe her behavior. Steve arrived in the driver's seat, and when he went to turn the ignition, he just saw a button. "How exactly do I start this thing without an ignition?" He asked to no one in particular and that made Phantom laugh at him nicely. "Rogers, what you need to do is press down on the break and push the button. That's how you start the car," Phantom responded nicely to him. Steve did as she told him and the car started which made me exclaim, "Wow, that's different." Phantom giggled again at him and told him to drive. When the piece switched from the "Happy Holiday" rendition to "I've Got My Love to Keep Me Warm," Phantom began to sway to the jazzy feel and sing along to it. [I can't remember. A worst December. Just watch. Those icicles form. What do I care. If icicles form. I got my love to keep me. I've got my love to keep me. I've got my love to keep me warm.] Both of the men watched her intently and with different expressions and thoughts. "Wow. The young warrior has performing vocals as well as fighting skills," Thor thought as he listened while swaying his own head to her vocals. The piece transitioned again from "I've Got My Love to Keep Me Warm" to "Counting Your Blessings" and Phantom's voice went from the swinging playful tone to a soul full, dreamy, and luscious tone. [When I'm worried and I can't sleep, I count my blessings instead of sheep, and I fall asleep counting my blessings. I think about a nursery and I picture curly heads. And one by one I count them, as they slumber in their beds. If you're worried and you can't sleep, just count your blessings instead of sheep and you'll fall asleep counting your blessings.] Steve stopped the car right at the last phrase of the section of the piece and stared at Phantom with astonishment. "Wow. I didn't know that she could sing. She has a gorgeous voice. She seems so happy ever since the first time I saw her. Maybe Tony was right. I need to keep my eye on her," Steve thought. His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of honking that came from behind the car. "Uhhhh… Rogers. I think you gotta go," Phantom bluntly pointed out by using her right hand to point to the back of the car to the drivers behind them. Steve apologized immediately and continued to drive to the location.

Steve drove up to a tiny art shop in Soho and noticed how tiny it was. "So, is this the place, huh? How exactly do know about this place?" Steve asked the young mercenary next to him. "I had work done by the artist here a couple of years ago," Phantom responded while unbuckling her seatbelt. Thor jumped out of the car with Phantom's wheelchair and placed it outside her door. He opened her door, lifted Phantom up, and placed her on the chair. Steve asked how to turn off the car and Phantom told him to just push the ignition button. He pushed the button and ran after the other two Avengers who were heading inside of the building. When they came inside, Phantom yelled, "KOTO-SAN! I'M HERE FOR MY STUFF!" An old Japanese man came in from the back and responded, "Hai, hai. They are on the counter ready for you to take. You wish to look at first- what happened to you?" Phantom shook her head and responded, "There is no need to worry. I'll be okay, I always come out stronger than ever. As for your masterpieces, I don't need to see them. I wish to be surprised with the recipients. Thank you so much for your work." She bowed to him and the elderly man bowed at her with respect in return and stated, "It is no problem. I do believe they are two of my best pieces that I have ever done. I also mastered two small pieces for you. One in the shape of a locket with the piece inside, and the other is a small portrait. Take those as well. Thank you for saving New York and my shop."

The elderly man turned around and began to walk away, until he stopped, turned around, and expressed, "Also Merry Christmas, Young Tor." Phantom's eyes went to shock as both of the men stared at her with questioning in their eyes. The elderly man then just walked out leaving the three Avengers alone. Phantom pushed the issue aside and asked, "So, who's gonna carry the stuff to the car?" Thor just raised his hand and stated, "I shall put your items into the mode of transportation." Phantom nodded at him and told him, "Just place them in the backedy-back back." Thor just raised his eyebrow at her and Phantom explained, "It's the back of the car, Thor. AND BE CAREFUL! They're very fragile." Thor nodded his head took the items to the car. While Thor did his thing, Steve decided to ask, "So, Tor?" The young mercenary stiffened up and replied, "An old name. From a different day in a different time. She's gone." Steve went around the chair, squat down in front of her to meet her eyelevel, put his hands on Phantom's knees, and asked, "She's not gone. She'll always be a part of you. You can't forget and reject your past. It's what made you, well you. I don't know what happened to you to make you go out the route you did, but I don't believe that it would in your best interest to scorch your past away. Your memories will haunt you, but they will always make you better." Phantom just stared at him and stated, "Rogers, I appreciate your concern, but if you look that girl up, she did die. Right after her family did. I'm not scorching my memories. They are the only ones I have of my family, and I need those memories. Thank you for trying to help me." Phantom placed her right hand on his cheek and smiled enough to show through the mask. Steve rose from his position, pushed Phantom's chair back to the car, and put her inside, and Phantom allowed him to buckle her seatbelt. She put on more Christmas music and sang along with the music as Steve drove through New York. As he drove, Thor would ask some questions about why certain decorations were up and Phantom would answer him.

When they arrived back to the Tower, Thor managed to carry the largely wrapped portrait all by himself while Phantom had the other three wrapped items on her lap while Steve pushed her chair. The three went into the lounge area and found that the entire room was completely decorated with Christmas decorations. The one small tree that was there previously was replaced by a giant tree that had face snow tinsel and loads of the Avenger decorations that stores would sell for their admiration about what they did. There were also several little items that dictated what they all did or identify them. Phantom looked down and the presents that were there were still there but they were arranged from the recipients in alphabetical order. Phantom ordered Thor to lean the large gift against the tree. Phantom placed the other items from her lap under the tree, and when Steve turned the chair to see the kitchen, Phantom saw that the kitchen had many tubs and plates of food on the island and counters. Tony walked into the room and stated, "This is food courtesy of the citizens of New York City. I sent out a little tweet about you needing food for sustenance and that you've probably haven't had a home cooked meal in years, and this is what happened. I already had JARVIS scan all of the food for poison and toxins and we removed the anything that could harm you. Also they is an envelope with a lot of cash inside with a small letter attached to it." Phantom raised her eyebrow, had Steve take her to the counter, she picked up the letter, opened it with a small dart needle that she had hidden, and read.

[Dear Phantom,

I want to thank you for helping me with a present for my Aunt May. We haven't opened ours yet, and I'm trying to build my Uncle Ben something that he would like and use in his daily life. I had my Aunt May make some Christmas Cookies and her famous Walnut Date Loaf. I decided to return the money in this packet because you have already spent enough on my family and me. Thank you for all you've done, and I sincerely hope that you have a Merry Christmas.

Sincerely,

Peter]

Phantom felt her eyebrow twitch and thought, "This boy got some nerve. Good kid, but some nerve. I'll return the money to him later tonight or tomorrow." Steve looked over her shoulder at the letter and thought, "Who's Peter and why would she give him money?" Phantom felt something off so she glanced over her shoulder at the Captain who had furrowed eyebrows and a look of focus and jealousy in his eyes. "Is something wrong, Rogers?" Phantom questioned him, which caused him to come out of his focused state. He stared at him and stated, "No. Nothing's wrong. Do you want me to make you a plate of food since you can't reach over the island to grab the food?" Phantom looked to the island, thought about her options, and responded, "Although it is against my pride, since I can't obtain the food on my own, I politely request that you could make me a plate of food. I want one of everything on the counter, but the walnut date loaf is to be on a different smaller plate. For the soups, just serve them with a single scoop of the ladle in different bowls." Steve smiled at her and began to make her plates of one of everything. After he made everything as she requested, there were five plates of entrees, three plates of appetizers, five bowls of soup, and eight plates of desserts.

While Steve prepared her dishes, Tony took Phantom over to the dining table, set her place with a glass of water, a glass of Dr. Pepper, and a glass of wine. Bruce came in with a thin black face shawl and so did Thor. Bruce handed Phantom the mask, which made Phantom raise her eyebrow, and he explained, "This is so you can eat freely and drink freely." Phantom nodded, took the shawl from him, unlatched her current mask from the bottom, put the shawl over the mask that is still blocking her face, and fully took off her mask and placed it onto the table. Phantom began with the appetizers and ate all of them by herself in twenty minutes. After she ate the appetizers, she drank the wine and commented, "Dark and powerful, yet elegant, with a delicious core of crushed raspberries, blackberries, and damson plum notes tightly woven with silky tannins. The minerally finish lingers on with layered flavors of wildflowers, melted licorice, and spice box. Achaval-Ferrer. Nice." Tony raised his eyebrow at her analyzation and asked, "You've had it? And you have the proper taste for it?" Phantom smirked beneath her shawl and responded, "Of course, I've had it. This is me were talking about." Phantom ate/drank three of the five soups and all of the appetizers and she had to take a breather to stop eating. "Okay, some of this is good, but others are either bland or there is something off about them in the taste department. Uck, ooo. Ffff. Okay, back to the food," Phantom stated as she drank the Dr. Pepper to drown out the taste. She then began to eat all of the entrees as quickly as she could, until Steve stopped her, "Hey, hey, hey. You don't have to eat them so fast. Are you in some sort of hurry?" Phantom nodded her head at him and stated with some food left into her mouth, "I need to contact Sun Wukong to try to get me to deliver something. I'll finish all this up real quick then make the call for him to come get me." Steve tried to ask her what exactly she was going to do, but she just kept eating all of the entrees and desserts as fast as she could without blending it together. She saved the Walnut Date Loaf and the Christmas cookies that were sent by Peter for the last things for her to consume. When she ate the loaf, she tasted the over bearing taste of walnut and not much of the loaf. It was enough to make Phantom shutter a little. "Heeeeewwww. Too much Walnut, not enough loaf. Eww," Phantom stated while shuttering. She smacked her lips a little bit to get the taste out of her mouth. She went for the cookies, and that made her flinch her body from the taste as well. "Ugh, too much butter. Plus they're too burnt at the bottom. Ugh." She finished the food as much as her taste buds would allow her to.

Phantom then downed the last of her Dr. Pepper, thanked the people for the food, and took out her Starkphone to make her call. She dialed for Sun Wukong. It took three rings until he answered, "Hello?" Phantom smiled beneath masked and asked, "Did you deliver the package?" That made everyone at the table stare at her as she listened to Sun Wukong's response, "OH, YOU'RE AWAKE! Yes, I delivered the package to an old enemy of the children guilds a man by the name of Xavier. He paid quite the pretty penny. Paid 15 million for her head and for the guild destruction. I'll send you all of it when you send me your bank account info, or do you want it in a flash drive or cash?" Phantom responded, "You can keep haft. You're the one who delivered it. As for the money, put it on a flash drive. I think it's easier for us that way. I also need you for a small job. I need you to take me somewhere for a tiny job. I'll pay you for it, because I, unfortunately, cannot take myself." Sun Wukong tried to ask her what happened, but she assured him that she was okay, "I'm fine, I'm fine, Sunny. I just need to rest up and I'll be okay. So you in, or do I need to find someone else?" Sunny felt happy that she called him first and responded promptly, "NO, I'LL GO! I WANT TO GO! What time?" Phantom smiled at his eagerness, "Whenever you're ready. I'll be at Stark Tower waiting." Sunny then told her that he was going to be there within twenty minutes and she hung up the phone. When she looked at everyone and saw their skeptical looks, she questioned, "What?" Tony, thinking he was her father, questioned, "And where do you think you are going, young lady? It is Christmas Eve, and you should be home, not working." Phantom lifted her eyebrow at him, and replied, "First of all: I'm not your kid, don't speak to me about what exactly I can or cannot do. Two: I'm Phantom, not "Young Lady," and you will address me as such. Three: This isn't for work, this is for an acquaintance. Four: This will not take all day, this will only take about an hour. Five and finally: When I return, we will talk about this being my "home" situation." Everyone just had their mouths open at her sassy response except for Tony who just had a smirk on his face.

Phantom just waited while everyone finished eating all of the food that she left for them. After eighteen minutes of waiting, J.A.R.V.I.S. announced over the intercom, "A Mr. Sun Wukong is here for Phantom. Do I allow him up?" Tony and Phantom replied "Yes" while Steve replied "No." J.A.R.V.I.S. took the majority rule and allowed Sun up from the elevator. Once the doors open, the young mercenary just strolled in while waving his hand at Phantom, who just waved back nicely. "Hey, Monkey Boy. You here to take our girl away?" Tony shouted to the boy, who just flinched at the nickname. "Phantom, are you ready to go? Where exactly are we going?" Sun continued while strolling over to Phantom. He noticed that both Tony and Steve were both glaring at him with different deeper looks within their eyes. Tony was a protectiveness like a fatherly appearance, and Steve's was more of a protective boyfriend that would attack you if you even dared to look at his woman. Sun Wukong, being the cheeky bastard that he was, went over to Phantom gave her a giant bear hug and gave a light peck on her masked cheek to rub it into the men that Phantom was closer to him than to anyone else. Phantom gave a look of confusion to his actions, but when she saw the teasing look within his eyes, she understood his actions immediately. Phantom gave him the most sincere smile that she could muster and replied, "It's good to see you too, Sunny. Take me up to my room, I'll grab some things, and then we'll take off, alright?" Sun smiled, nodded his head, and took her to the elevator, as she grabbed the envelope.

When they arrived to her floor, she had him take her over to where she saw the little zen garden that she assumed Bruce gave her, and picked up some of the white sand. "Umm. Not to correct you or anything, but I do not believe that is how you use the sand." Phantom raised her hand to shush him, and then she used her abilities to form a hollow ball. She then ignited it with her free hand and created a sphere of glass. She opened a tiny hole of so that she could have entered some items that she wanted. She had Sun pull out a bottle of Aquafina, open it, while she pulled out some of the water with her hydrokinesis and had it up a little under haftway and then inserted a little sand at the bottom, while swirling some of the calcium and sodium to create a green saltwater look of the purified water. Once she closed up the sphere and added her own little charm to it. After she finished, the sphere looked like the ocean with rolling waves with cute little white clouds inside of it. Sun looked at her with confusion and asked, "And why exactly did you need to make that?" Phantom just smiled at him and stated, "We need to head to Queens."

Sunny nodded his head, then took her to his car downstairs and drove her over to an alley near Peter's place. Phantom wrote a little note to Peter telling him not to return the money ever again and that the little sphere was for his uncle. Phantom had Sun Wukong carry her from window to window to see inside each room until she reached a dark blue room that had a super old school computer that made her want to puke. She scanned the room to assure her that no one was there, so had Sun Wukong use his super sensitive hearing to listen in to the next room and he heard Peter, an older woman, and an older gentleman. Sun reported to Phantom the three voices: a young teen, a man, and a woman. She looked at the table and saw some of the papers had Peter's name on them, so she jimmied the lock open, placed the items on the Peter's desk, shut the window, and had Sun Wukong take her back to the tower. While on the elevator ride up, Sun began to ask, "So, are you going to be a mercenary or an Avenger?" Phantom replied swiftly, "No reason why I can't do both. I can save the world whenever I'm needed with the Avengers, go hunt down people with you, and then go obtain information for Mr. Stark when I'm not doing either or. It's a win situation lifestyle." Sun smiled at her answer and chose to stare forward the rest of the elevator ride.

When they arrived to the lounge floor, all of the male Avengers, with the exception of Clint and Fury, were all sitting in the lounge waiting for Phantom and Sun Wukong to return. Sun took her over to an open area next to Bruce at the edge of the couch. "Thanks for the sweet gig, Phantom. It was fun. Hope we get to do it again, along with some other "fun activities." Don't forget to call me. See ya around," Sun said his little shpeal until when he talked about "fun activities," clearly making an assumption that they were doing something naughty, he kissed her cheek at "Don't forget to call me," then began his walk out while waving goodbye before any of the men could interject on his actions. Taking a look at the men's face made Phantom start giggling at Sun's actions. Tony's face had one of complete disgust and disapproval, Steve's was that of anger and hatred towards Sunny, Bruce was a little of disapproval and skepticism at Sun Wukong, and Thor's look was that of amusement at the two young mercenaries. All of the men then turned to her giggling form and Tony asked/yelled, "Phantom, don't encourage the boy! WE DON'T APPROVE!" Phantom just raised her eyebrow at Tony's tone and stated, "Stark, Sun's my friend. I'll be around him if that is what I please. Even if it is at your disapproval. By checking the time, I can say that it is a five hours until suppertime, so I'm gonna eat, then I'm gonna take my bath to replenish my strength. So what's for dinner?" All the men looked back and forth at each other with confusion in their eyes and Phantom asked, "You all didn't think about dinner, did you? I can prepare something, but I won't be able to do it on my own. Will you all assist me?" All of the men looked at each other and then to Phantom while nodding.

Phantom had Tony roll her up to the island and had the men take out several mixing pots. "Say, what all ingredients that they had in the fridge and cabinets. They had cooking chocolate, sugar, eggnog, turkey, eggs, mayo, spices, Swiss Mountain Hot Chocolate, dry stuffing, flour, milk, butter, margarine, molasses, lots of fruits, alcohol (from Tony's vast bar), cranberry sauce, corn husk, onions, cloves, tomatoes, and masa harina. Phantom looked at the vast arrangement of ingredients and asked, "Are we inviting anyone else to our little Christmas Eve Dinner? I can invite Sunny along with another boy I met within the city. I also wanted to invite Widow and Legolas as well as Fury and Maria… that's about all I have to invite. I bet you guys have people that you want to invite like Jane Foster, Dr. Selvig, Miss Pepper, Rhodes, and ummm… other people. That around fifteen people, so I won't feel bad about us making tons of food. Let's get started. Rogers, you know how to make the turkey, right? That's what I want you to work on. Make sure you baste the turkey as much as possible. Can you also make a pie, you seem like you would be able to make an amazing apple pie. Tony, I'm gonna give you some simple tasks. You're gonna make the deviled eggs, so you need to boil the eggs. You will also be in charge of the eggnog, as well as hot chocolate and Hot Butter Rum. Be careful with your drink in take, remember, some people don't have your alcohol tolerance. Bruce, can I be bold as to ask you to make mashed potatoes, the figgy pudding, and the gingerbread cookies. Thor, you will assisting me to make tamales, which will take all of our time while I assist the others with their tasks. You all understand and are ready?" All of the men nodded their heads and then they all went to work.

When everyone gathered their first set of ingredients for their first set of food. Phantom had an idea right after she took out some of the corn husk. "Hey J.A.R.V.I.S. you can access my Starkphone even though it is not with me, make calls, connect it to the Bluetooth speakers here in the kitchen, and play whatever I want, right?" Phantom asked out to the ceiling. "Of course, Miss. Phantom. Is there anything in particular that you would like to listen to or anyone you would like to send messages to?" The A.I. called out to the young mercenary. Phantom thought about it for a split second and replied, "Send "Hey, be here at the Tower tonight at 7. It is an Avenger's Dinner and yes, it is required. If you don't come, I'll find you and drag you here myself with an injured hand." Send that to Arachne, Robin Hood, Patchy, Puppydog, Monkey Boy, and Peter. You can edit Peter's to sound all nice like, "Hey, a couple of friends and I are having a little Christmas Dinner together and I thought that you might want to come." As for the music I want you to play: I want English, Christmas Music put on shuffle and the first song I want played is "Jingle Bell Rock." A classic." The A.I. then told her that he was going to send her messages and play as she requested. Then her song began to play and she began to do a little dance as she had Thor turn on the warm water for the cornhusks.

After the sink filled up haft way, Phantom placed as many of the cornhusks inside as she could and had Thor press them down since she couldn't see if they were coming back up. Phantom filled up a giant soup pot placed the shredded chicken with onion and garlic with some water to boil for 2 hours. "Why will this meat take so long to cook, young one?" Thor asked the young girl ordering him to cook. "Because Tamales are labors of love and take lots of time and effort to show that love," Phantom answered him the way her father used to when they made tamales when she was younger and helped him in the kitchen. Phantom took out some flour, put it into a sifter, lifted it above a large empty bowl, and had Thor sift it as she sift the sugar into another bowl. In the middle of Thor's sifting, Phantom added baking powder to his sifter, then let him continue. She took out some of the melted butter and mixed it with a cup of her sugar. After she did that, Phantom added some vanilla extract and eggs to the mixture. After Thor finished his sifting, Phantom had him add the sifted flour slowly as she began to stir it with her hydrokinetic powers. After she mixed the batter thoroughly, she put it into a buttered pan, then into the oven. Thor and Phantom repeated this process until the made four medium size circular pans with six small circular pans. After all of the cakes began to bake, Phantom made her rounds to see if any of the other Avengers needed her assistance.

Phantom used her aerokinetic powers to push her towards Tony first. She saw Tony just staring at the boiling water full of eggs and she questioned, "So Stark, how's it going?" Tony just stared at the water and replied, "How do I know if the eggs are finished boiling?" Phantom raised her eyebrow and asked, "What's the water level at? You did raise the water over the top of the eggs before you let them boil, right?" Tony nodded his head and replied, "That's what Bruce told me to do when I begin boiling the eggs. The water level isn't even below 6/8ths of the eggs. What will it be when they're done?" Phantom giggled at Tony's childlike question and replied, "Stark, the water level will be below 1/8 coverage or you will see cracks appear on the eggs. Also little urban legend, watching things cook is like watching a clock, it makes time go sloooooooooooooow. Try setting a timer, go work on something while the eggs boil and take the timer with you, and when it goes off, go check on them. Set ten minutes for the first one, check the water level, then do a small algorithm based on the water level and timing to configure when to set the next time. Have fun."

Phantom used her aerokinetic powers to go over to Bruce who was working on his figgy pudding. "So, how exactly is the pudding going, Brucie?" Bruce lowered the mixing bowl that he was working on to her eyelevel and she saw that he was hand stirring the bowl. "So, you're good on how to make this, or do you need any help?" Phantom asked the nice scientist. He shook his head and replied, "I know how to make all of my items on my own. I'm good, but thank you for your offer." Phantom smiled at his kind response, then used her aerokinetic powers to move on to the final chef of this dinner.

Phantom piloted herself over to Steve to see him finalizing the turkey before he puts inside of one of the eight ovens that Tony had in this kitchen that they were using. "So Rogers, how exactly is the turkey prepping going? You're about to put the bird in the oven, right?" Phantom asked while observing Steve rubbing the turkey with his strong hands. Steve glanced over to her, smiled, and replied, "Hello Phantom. I'm just finishing rubbing the turkey, the preheat is almost over, and then I'll place the turkey in the oven. I don't need any help yet, but if you have any tips for when I make the apple, cherry, and pumpkin pies, I'll be glad for the help." His smile made Phantom feel a little warm, giddy, and fuzzy in the pit of her stomach. She felt her face heating up and that she was gawking at him. She was stunned by his reply, looked down, struggled to let out an okay, and went back over to her cooking station with Thor, leaving a confused Steve to finish rubbing his turkey.

Phantom checked on the cakes, and saw that all of them were cooked. She took out some along with Thor, who she had put oven mitts on while she just used her aerokinetic powers to take hers out. Phantom sliced the dome part of the cakes to make them flat, so that she could stack them. Phantom stabbed some holes with a fork as did she made Thor do. "Why exactly are we putting holes into these cakes, Phantom?" Thor asked Phantom while stabbing the cakes. "Because after the cakes cool down, we're going to add the milk mixture to them and the holes allow the mixture to sink in." Thor nodded his head at her response and continued to stab until she told him to stop. Phantom then had Thor place holey cakes on their portion of the counter to allow them to cool off and she checked the time. It had already been almost an hour and a haft since they started to make their items, so Phantom had to think about what their next move was going to be. After her little moment of thinking, Phantom realized what they could have done. Phantom took out the heavy cream, put it into another mixing pot, added some sugar, and some vanilla extract. "Hey Thor, so now I'm going to have you stir this pot until it turns to a light and fluffy texture, okay?" Phantom told Thor. He smiled at her request and began to stir the mixture. "So Young Phantom, how long will this take? Is this speed appropriate speed or can I go faster?" Phantom smiled and replied, "This will take a couple of moments. Keep the speed you are at now. Any faster and it won't be the same fluffiness that I desire. Remember, patience is a virtue." Thor nodded at her advice and kept his stirring speed as she requested. Phantom made another batch and stirred it at his speed using her hydrokinetic powers. It took a while, but they managed to make the fluffy concoction that she desired.

After they did that, Phantom ordered him to put them in the fridge and make another set. After they stirred that set, they put them into the oven and proceeded to make the milk mixture that they were going to put into the cakes. She used whole milk, sweetened condense milk, and evaporated milk. She used three mixing bowls for five different milk mixtures to put into the cakes. Phantom stirred four with her hydrokinetic powers while Thor stirred the other using a whisk. Phantom felt the cakes and felt that they were cool enough to put the milk into them, so Phantom used the milk mixture for two cakes each. After she and Thor managed to pour the mixture into each of the cakes, Phantom and her began to cut several fruits per cake. She and Thor cut up several fruits such as strawberries, mangos, pineapples, oranges and kiwis. After the finished one set of fruits, they put them into a bowl, and placed them into the fridge. While they cut up the kiwis, Thor blatantly asked, "Why do thy fruits possess a man such as young men obtain upon their arms when they reach adolescence?" Phantom stared at the fruits questioningly and replied, "I really don't know. I asked that exact same question a couple of years ago and never got an answer either." Thor nodded at her answer and finished up with slicing the fruits. They then plucked, destemmed, and washed berry fruits such as grapes, cherries, blueberries, raspberries, and blackberries.

Phantom had Thor take out the cakes and the homemade whip cream, and place them onto a small table so that Phantom could see the tops of the cakes. Phantom took the cakes out of the pans by using a butter knife as well as a fork. After she did that, Phantom had Thor cut the middle of the four medium sized cakes, smear the top of bottom halves, cut the small cakes in haft by the middle, and smear the bottom haft's top with whip cream. After the smearing, Phantom and Thor took out the cut fruits and Phantom placed the cut fruits on top of the whipped cream cakes in different fruit patterns to match the taste that each recipient might enjoy. After they finish making the fruit patterns on the whip creamed cake, she and Thor took the top halves, smeared the bottom of them, and placed them on top of the bottom haft. After that, Phantom and Thor spread out the whip cream on throughout the entire outside of the cakes, trying their best to make them look smooth and professional. Phantom took out an icing kit, and had Thor hold the bag while she squeezed the content to make the designs on the edges. After she finished the icing, she and Thor made fruit designs on top of the cakes to fit the corresponding fruits that were in the middle of each cake. "Why did we make these cakes with different fruits? Isn't Banner the Doctor making the desserts as well as Captain of the Americas?" Thor asked when they finished the cakes and placed them into the fridge. "This is another Latin dessert, Thor. I really enjoy them and I enjoy making them. I'll explain why each cake is the way it is later, okay?" Phantom asked Thor. He smiled at her answer and when she checked the time, she noticed that the meat had already been cooking for two hours and fifteen minutes.

Phantom had both of them remove stems and seeds from chili pods, then put them into a sauced pan with 2 cups of water. Phantom had Thor stir the pot with the chili pods and water for about 20 minutes while she took the meet off of the stove. After she did that, she took out the moist corn husk and a rolling pin. While Thor kept stirring the pot, Phantom shredded the chicken even more than what it was. After she did that, she took out one of the clean mixing pots, put lard and the broth into it and used Tony's kitchen mixer powers to beat the lard until it was fluffy. Then she added masa harina, baking powder, and salt to the mixer along with more broth to make the dough spongy. She went over to Thor who was still stirring the chili sauce that was cooking on the stove. She had Thor take the sauce off of the stove, put it into a blender, blend it, strain it, add salt, and stir it thoroughly. She placed the chicken into the chili sauce and stirred it even more to cause the sauce to blend its flavor with the chicken. Phantom took out one of the cornhusk and ordered Thor to watch her as she made the first one so he could copy it. She placed the dough onto the cornhusk, flattened it out, put some of the meat in the center, folded the side inward, tied it with a cooking string, and placed it into a steamer. Thor and Phantom prepped all of the other tamales and placed them into the steamer to be steamed for another hour.

While they were going to wait, Phantom reported, "Thor, this is going to take another hour. Why don't you go wash yourself, while I watch the tamales and help the others?" Thor looked at his doughy hands and messed up shirt and pants, so he nodded his head at her request and left the kitchen to try to get himself clean. Phantom set a timer for an hour for the tamales, then used her aerokinetic powers to push herself over to Tony to see him putting a lot of rum to the hot buttered rum. "Ummm… Stark, I don't think anyone expect Steve, Thor, Natasha, you, and I will be able to drink that. Unless the have our high alcohol tolerance, or want alcohol poisoning." Tony stopped pouring and looked at her questioningly and replied, "This is the second batch, which is for the ones who have a hard time getting a buzz. The first one is for the more faint hearted." Phantom nodded her head and stated okay. She went over to Bruce and saw that all of his desserts were finished and that he was working on his potatoes. She saw that he peeled several potatoes and had several prepared to be made to bake. "Umm… Brucie, are you making options for the starch?" Phantom asked while looking at all the potato options. Bruce nodded and stated, "I figured since we'll have options for entrees and desserts, why not have options for the veggies as well. I'm going to make some broccoli and melted cheese, and a large salad bowl for more vegetable options; don't you think that's a good idea?" Phantom smiled at his statement, nodded, and replied, "I think that is an excellent idea. For the salad, make the dressing another option. For me personally, I hate salad dressing. I'd rather have the veggies without the dressing." Bruce nodded at her statement and exclaimed, "Okay. Sounds like a good idea. Thanks." Phantom nodded and went over to the last chef.

Phantom used her aerokinetic powers to push herself over to Steve to see him basting the turkey, with all of his prepping for an apple pie done. Phantom saw that the pie was about to go into the oven. "Hey Rogers, instead of dampening the top of the pie with water, why don't spread butter over the top of the crust? It makes the top more crispy and gives it a more golden color as well as a nicer taste." Steve walked up from behind her, leaned over her right shoulder (a little too close for her liking) to look at the pie, and replied, "That's a really good idea. Wanna help me, since you got some time?" Phantom blushed a little, nodded, and grabbed some of the butter and a knife. She took some of the butter on the knife, gave it to Steve, and showed him how to properly spread it over the top gently by guiding his hand with hers. She then took some cinnamon and sprinkled just a tiny amount with powder sugar over the top to give it a sweeter taste. She and Steve put the pie in together at once, which Tony and Bruce noticed and made Tony glare and Bruce smile. After they did that, Phantom looked at him and asked, "So, Rogers. Do you need anymore assistance with any other type of baking needs?" Steve smiled at her and replied, "Nope, that was the last of my pies. After that I should be done, what about you? I know you and Thor made some Latin food and that he went upstairs to go get himself clean, so I know that you are finishing this on your own." Phantom shook her head and replied, "The tamales are steaming right now, and after they're done I can just plate them. After that I'll be done. I'm gonna rinse my dirty dishes and place them in the dish washer if you wanna do the same along with Bruce and Stark. We'll get our dishes clean, so this way the kitchen will smell of only the baked goods rather than the dirty dishes." Steve nodded and rinse off his dishes as well as Bruce's and Tony's. Steve glanced over to Phantom to see how she was going to do it, and he saw little water spheres in the air with dishes inside of them. She then placed the spheres into the dishwasher and had the water pushed over to the sink.

After Steve put the other dishes in the dishwasher, he checked pies, baste the turkeys, and then sat down on the island near Phantom who was sitting at the island in her wheelchair. "Hey Phantom, who exactly taught you how to cook?" Phantom stated quietly, "Both of my parents taught me when I was little. Whenever I was home when they prepared supper, I would always assist in the kitchen and along with the assistance, they gave me little lessons until they let me do it on my own. How about you?" Steve smiled at her because she was starting to open up more about her family and replied, "Well, my mom taught me when I was a child too, and like you, I lost her at a young age. After I lost her, I had to cook and clean for myself. That's also why I act more like the homebody type than most people do." Phantom giggled at his response and stated, "I guess that what happens when you have to fend for yourself at a young age. Since Stark didn't have to do that, that's why I chose to give him simple task. Things a little more his speed." Steve laughed at her statement about Tony until he noticed the song change on the speakers to a soft sweet tune. Phantom noticed the focus in his eyes how he slightly angled his right eye towards the speakers above them to listen, so she did the same and knew that it was Barbara Streisand's "A Christmas Love Song." Steve stared deeply into her eyes and listened to the lyrics deeply. [Finding every sweet surprise wrapped up in your eyes. Waiting there for me underneath the tree. We'll spend the day exchanging kisses.] Steve looked into her eyes and he felt something different about the look within her eyes. They still held their stoic expression from pain filled memories, but there was a gentle softness when she looked at him. After she noticed the lyrics, he saw her ears turn slightly pink on the tips. When Phantom gazed into Steve's, she saw a sadness repressed very deeply down, but in the front of his gaze, she saw an emotion she recognized from her past. Their gazes were broke by the sound of her timer going off for the tamales.

Phantom smiled at him, pushed herself over to her stove, turned off the heat, and took out the tamales from the steamer. After she did that, she realized the time, she announced to the men who were all finishing up on their food and cleaning. Phantom began to push herself over to the elevator and yelled, "Okay guys, since all of our food items are done and dinner is in an hour, I'm gonna head up to my room, take my shower, and get dressed for the dinner. I'd advise you all to do the same." As she pushed herself towards the elevator, Tony yelled, "Hey Phantom, there is an outfit on your bed for the Christmas Party we will be hosting tonight. You are required to wear it. CAN'T WAIT FOR YOU TO SEE IT!" Phantom raised her eyebrow at him, but chose to not to say anything. Phantom went into the elevator, rose to her room, then went into her bathroom. Phantom turned the faucet for the hot water to fill and put a bubble soap liquid in it to form the bubbles. Phantom then scooted over to her bed to see the outfit that a red short dress that exposed the shoulders but had lace over a sweetheart neckline and on the sleeves. She also saw that it had come with white a pair of think white tights and black knee high boots that had a three inch heel extension. Phantom smiled at the outfit and thought, "Cute, festive, and practical. I like it." Phantom smiled, went over to her bathtub, turned off the faucet since the tub was full, put a hair towel on her head to tie up her hair, undressed herself, and used her aerokinetic abilities to submerge herself within the water. She let out a giant exhale of relaxed air as soon as the water hit her skin. Phantom scrubbed her body from head to toe with soap to get herself fully clean.

After she rinsed the soap off her body, she used her hydrokinetic to levitate herself into her make up chair, and used a dry towel to cool herself. Phantom then took off her mask, got a wash cloth wet, and used the Noxzema that was at her makeup station to clean her face thoroughly, so that she could get a clean face and apply her makeup. Phantom put on her concealer over the top part of her face to cover up any blemishes that she thought she had. She put a little contour onto the top part of her cheek to give it the appearance that her face was skinny than it was. She put on her eyeshadow, followed up with her eyeliner, then some fake eyelashes that she saw that somebody paced with her makeup that Tony bought her, and finally applied her mascara. Phantom then filled in her eyebrows to give them a fuller look. She put on her Cherry Flavor Lip Licking Lip Balm on her finger and laced her lips thoroughly to give it the cherry scent and taste. Phantom put on the rouge colored mask to match her dress. Phantom took the towel off of her hair and she curled her hair loosely to give it a more festive look to it. She put a small mistletoe barrette to the side of her head. Phantom hopped into her wheelchair, went to her closet, took out a matching strapless, lace bra and panty set that she thought that looked cute.

Phantom put her panties on and went to put the bra on, but she had trouble trying to latch it. As she kept struggling J.A.R.V.I.S. spoke up from the speakers, "Miss Phantom, do you require assistance for dressing yourself? I could call Miss Potts to come assist you." Phantom smiled and replied, "If it's Miss Potts, that would be fantastic. Would you mind calling her to come help me?" J.A.R.V.I.S. replied that he would and called Miss Potts, who came into Phantom's room already dressed and ready for the party. She wore a red velvet cocktail dress that went down to her knees while the sleeves went down to her elbow. It had a boat neckline and she had a thin crystal belt around her stomach to show how flat it was. The clicking of her heels against the floor made Phantom gaze into her direction. She came into the bathroom and saw Phantom holding the black bra against her chest, which caused Pepper to smile at Phantom's actions. Pepper went around to Phantom's back and latched the bra for her. Phantom then adjusted her breast in the bra, which made Pepper giggle. Pepper helped Phantom into her tights and the dress and that was when Pepper noticed, "Well, aren't you getting all dressed up with all of your makeup intact. Is there a special boy coming?" Phantom blushed a little and replied, "Maybe. You never know." That made Pepper smile, and help Phantom put on her boots. After Phantom was all dressed and ready, she pushed herself over to her room vanity, and looked at the selection of perfumes that Tony bought for her. She smelled all of the perfumes until she fell for the perfume _Anima Dulcis-Arquiste_ by Rodrigo Flores-Roux & Yann Vasnier. She shprits herself three times; once on her head, once on her torso, and once on her thighs. She took the roller perfume and rolled it on her wrist, behind her ears, in the cleavage of her chest, and a little around her collarbone.

Phantom looked herself over in her mirror and she made some slight adjustments to make herself look better. She noticed that she didn't have any jewelry on her, but she thought that she needed some, so she went over to her vanity and noticed a large jewelry box. She looked inside to see a pair of diamond studs that were shaped as snowflakes, so she decided to put them on. She also put on a necklace that was also a white teardrop diamond that was a tad flashy, but it reminded her of her mother's when she was little. She also saw a three-row diamond tennis bracelet that she put her left wrist. When she went back over to the mirror and was satisfied with her complete look. Pepper recognized her the satification deep within Phantom's eyes, so she asked, "Phantom, you ready to go eat with the others?" Phantom looked at Pepper, smiled, and nodded her head. Pepper pushed her to the elevator and had them go down to the dining area on the lounging floor. When they arrived, Phantom saw everyone except for her two guest were already waiting for her. She pulled out her phone, and decided to call Sun Wukong. After the phone rang for a split second, he picked up the phone, "Hey Phantom, I'm on my way now. I'm at my place in Queens real quick. I'll be at the tower in fifteen, because I'm walking out now." Phantom interjected him as soon as he stated that, "Actually Sunny, I was wondering if you would do me a favor. I have a friend who is coming who lives in Queens, I just need you to pick him up. I'll text you the address, but would you mind bringing him here?" Sun just agreed and stated, "That's fine. I'll pick the kid up. See ya in twenty." Phantom shook her head at his change of time.

After she hung up the phone, Pepper pushed her forward to the others who were all mingling with one around the couch and lounge area. Phantom saw Tony behind the bar, so she requested, "Can I get a Rumchata Eggnog or a Chocolate Marshmallow with Rumchata?" Tony raised his eyebrow at her and said, "Aren't you too young to drink?" Phantom raised her eyebrow in a sassy matter and replied, "Didn't stop you before. Besides, you don't know my real age and I don't have a real license. Please." Tony smiled at the sweetness at the end of the request and made her Chocolate Marshmallow with Rumchata. He gave her a straw so that she could drink it with her mask on. Phantom unlatched the bottom on the mask and began to drink the alcoholic drink with content. When Tony saw a smile appear on her face, raised his eyebrow cockingly, and asked, "Good?" Phantom returned the smirk and countered, "Not the best I've ever had, but not bad." Steve gave her a disapproving look but she shot back a cocky challenging look, raised her index and middle finger to her forehead and waved it off at him. Tony laughed at her gesture and continued to make drinks for the other guest.

After the fifteen minutes passed, J.A.R.V.I.S. called out to the people, "Excuse me, but Mr. Wukong and a young man are both waiting down by at the lobby. Should I allow them up?" Phantom smiled at the question and replied, "Absolutely." J.A.R.V.I.S. allowed the young men up and as soon as they arrive, Phantom saw how they were dressed. Sun was in a traditional formal red Chinese shirt and black trousers. He kept his wristlets as well as his diadem. Peter wore a simple red button up shirt with black dress pants and black dress shoes. His hair was combed over to hold it down. Peter looked like he was about to go to war with Hulk, with how nervous he looked. Phantom pushed herself over to the two young teenagers. "Hey boys, how was the drive?" Phantom asked as politely as she could. Tony raised his eyebrow at her politeness. Peter had immediate fear within his eyes and asked, "OH MY! HOW… WHAT HAPPENED?! WHY ARE YOU IN A WHEELCHAIR?! ARE YOU GOING TO BE OKAY?!" Phantom laughed at the poor boy's concern, reached up to hold his left cheek, sent some calming thoughts to his mind, and replied, "Peter, you gotta relax. I just had a little fight, I'm healing up, and I'll be okay. I'm in the chair because I can't walk on my own. As the guest of tonight, you're only job is to relax and have fun, unless you want to push me around and I'll introduce you to the team." Peter smiled at her request and nodded. Phantom turned her attention over Sunny who just gave looks of jealousy to Phantom's interaction with Peter. "Sunny, thanks for picking him up. Also thanks for coming. I know usually Christmas we have our… "jobs" this time of year, and I appreciate you coming in. Why don't you go get something to drink and mingle. It's going to be… a loooooooong night." Sun smiled at her and replied, "No need to worry. The last job we did together paid more than what I ever would have made with just working at the guild for all of the holiday season. As for that drink… it better be strong." Phantom nodded at his request and he went over to the bar to obtain his drink. Phantom redirected her attention at Peter and asked, "Shall we?" Peter nodded and pushed her over to the other guests.

As Peter and Phantom went up to the other guest Phantom noticed some slight shaking coming from the handles. Phantom reached her hand over to touch his and she whispered silently so only he could hear her, "It's alright. I promise, none of them are going to bite. Maybe threaten a little, but they'll like you. I can feel it." Peter smiled at her gesture and tried to stop shaking just for her. As soon as they reached the others, Phantom picked up her Chocolate Marshmallow Cocktail and decided to make the greeting to everyone who was there. "Avengers and friends, the two young men who just arrived are dear guest of mine. This young mercenary getting his drink on is my associating mercenary and dear friend: "Sun Wukong: Great Sage of Equaling Heaven," or so he addresses himself. He and I have known each other for years and we've been working close to each other for about the same amount of time. Don't mind him or his monkey antics. THAT MEANS YOU ROGERS AND STARK! Thor, if he asked you to do something, come ask me if it's okay or if he's trying to trick you." As soon as Phantom warned everyone, they glanced over to Sun who just held a mischievous smirk on his face. "I still don't like that little punk," Tony thought to himself. "He seems a little cocky," Natasha, Clint, Fury, and Maria thought to themselves.

Sun Wukong read the room and thought, "Let's ruffle some feathers, shall we?" He gave a seductive look, saunted his way over to Phantom, who already as a suspecting look within her eyes, sat on her lap, put his arms around her, pecked her cheek (making his claim), and asked, "So Phantom, when exactly are we going on our next little "trip?" Last time was so exciting, I can barely wait for the next one." Steve and Tony felt their anger and hated spike for the young mercenary making moves on their fellow Avengers. Phantom raised her eyebrow at his tactics until she felt the angered air pointed in her direction and that's when she knew what that boy was up to. He gave her a side look that screamed, "play along." She did a slight giggle at him, thought she would "ruffle some feathers on her own," and stated, "We'll have to see about that, "Monkey Boy." After all, patience is a virtue. Besides," she then pushed him off of her lap, motioned Peter to come around, pulled him onto her lap, wrapped her own arms around him, and finished. "I have to entertain my other guest as well. Don't I, Peter?" Phantom snuggled herself closer to Peter by putting her face close to his, and pulled him in, which caused him to blush out. She felt the emotions of the men who she knew who affected by her actions. She smirked at the angered emotions spiking from Tony, Steve, and Sun all at the same time. She kept her arms around Peter and announced, "Everyone, this cute boy here is Peter Parker. I met him in the city a couple of days ago. He's my friend, and I want you all to treat him as nicely as he's treated me. THAT MEANS YOU TONY AND SUNNY!" Both of the men smirked at her command, taking it as a challenge, and Phantom told everyone to start mingling.

Phantom released Peter, who stood up abruptly, went behind her chair, and waited for Phantom's instructions to move forward. When she gave her command to move by nodding her head, Peter pushed her forward. She directed him to go over to Thor, who was talking to a brunette haired that was clearly into him. When Phantom saw the woman, she recognized her from Phantom's Avenger's Research in Thor's file. "Miss Jane Foster. Born June 9, 1981. 5'3", 114 pounds, Astronomer, one of the leading astrophysicists, graduating top of her class at Culver University in Astrophysics and Astronomy. Associations with Thor of Asgard, Erik Selvig, and Darcy Lewis. Sound about right?" Jane had a shocked confused face at Phantom's statement. Jane asked how she knew her and Phantom replied, "Thor's information packet. It had information about you, Dr. Selvig, Asgard, Miss Lewis, and even the history of the town that was caught in the middle of his battle with the mysterious metal fire spitting armor. I am very thorough with my research, Dr. Foster. It's nice to meet you. My name is Phantom and this is my friend, Peter." Jane nodded her head as a greeting and replied, "I appreciate your advance research. I also which to thank you for keeping an eye out for Thor." Jane sent a dirty glare to Thor as she continued, "Because I had to find out through the media that there was a problem and "SOMEONE" couldn't contact me." Phantom gave a look of uncomfortability to the angered woman and stated, "Uh, ha, ha…ha. You sure got yourself a good woman. Is it meal time yet?" Tony yelled, "YAY FOOD!" Everyone laughed and went over to sit at the table for dinner.

When everyone went to sit, they all looked at Phantom. "What?" She asked to all the people just looking at her. Tony stated, "We need you to take your place. Once you take your spot, the rest of can take out spots. You also need to choose who exactly is going to sit next to you. That's very important." Phantom looked at Peter and asked him very politely with her eyes sparkling, "Peter, would you like to sit next to me at the dinner table?" Peter blushed at the sparkle in her eyes and nodded at her request. Peter rolled her wheelchair up to the table to the middle long side edge and sat down on the chair to the left side of her. "So, who's going to sit on the other side of you, Phantom?" Tony asked casually. Phantom shrugged and replied, "I personally don't mind who sits next to me. You guys can decide for yourselves." That when Sun went up to the chair and stated, "I guess that my cue to use the "I'm her guest card." I'll take the seat next to her." Tony interjected the boy by stating, "Ugh, no. My place, my rules. You can't sit next to her." Sun Wukong and Tony went at each other about why Sun couldn't sit next to Phantom, while Steve asked Phantom to sit next to her. She smiled and agreed, so he sat down while the two men kept fighting each other. Everyone else chose to sit at their spots. Bruce sat at the opposite side of the table from Phantom with Pepper sitting two chairs down with an open spot for Tony. Thor sat the head of the table with Jane sitting near him. Fury sat at the other head side of the table with Natasha and Maria sitting next to him. Clint was sitting next to Natasha. The final spot left was for Sun Wukong was next to Peter. It took a moment for the men to argue until Phantom spoke up, "Are you boys going to sit down so we can eat, or do you just want to fight for the rest of the evening?" Both of the men looked at each other, gave a small glare to one another, and went to the remaining seats.

When everyone was ready to eat, Phantom stated, "I believe since Mr. Stark opened up his home to allow us to gather here to celebrate, he should be deemed as the man of the hour and give the celebratory speech and carve the turkey." Peter nodded his head in agreement as did Fury, Natasha, Maria, and Bruce. Tony stood from his spot, pulled on his suit cuff, and had a cocky look on his face. Before he even started to speak, Phantom stated, "Uh oh. We boosted his ego, now we're never going to hear the end of it." Everyone laughed at her comment, until Tony interrupted, "Oh ha, ha, ha, Phantom. Seems that your mouth is faster than your legs. I was going to say you should give the speech since you brought us together, but since your acting like Bugs Bunny, oh you might not know who that is, sweetheart, I'll be glad to accept." Phantom shook her head in amusement at his snide attack as he continued. "We all gathered here to celebrate the holidays together. Even though this is a first time celebrating the holidays, Phantom, Thor. We were brought together by the cause to save the world, but we stayed together because we are a family. With Thor being the confusing Uncle, Fury being the grandfather of stories, Natasha being the Aunt that has a reckless past." Natasha glared at him, but he continued, "Oh you know it's true. Clint is going to be the annoying cousin who's going spit spitballs at the youngens. Bruce is going to be mom with making sure that everyone is comfortable and has enough food. Maria is going to be grandma who is going to keep serving her favorite, Uncle Patchy. Finally Phantom is the daughter who brought two boys home, but I BETTER NOT FIND YOU HAVING A KISSY KISSY MOMENT IN MY HOUSE! Since I'm the dad, I'm gonna finished with, if anyone touches my daughter, I will find out and find you. NOW LET'S EAT! Who wants white meat?" Phantom laughed at all of Tony's speech, even until the end.

Everyone grabbed something off of the table, and began to pass everything around to get whatever they wanted. After everyone got their food, Tony clanked his glass to get everyone's attention. "I'd like to make a toast. To the holidays, to our family, to the Avengers." Everyone raised their glasses and shouted, "TO THE AVENGERS!" They all then drank some of their drinks. Everyone then began to start eating and drinking while conversing with each other during the meal. It only took a moment until Tony asked, "Who made the tamales? These are so authentic." Phantom piped up and stated, "Thor and I made them. It's a family recipe." Tony nodded his head and took several more for his plate. After everyone ate the appetizers and entrees, they were about to dig into the desserts until Phantom yelled, "WAIT! There are several more desserts in the fridge. Thor, would you mind going to the fridge and getting the cakes?" Thor nodded at her, gathered all of the cakes, and placed them onto the table. Everyone gazed at the cakes with astonishment. "Everyone, these cakes were designed to fit the specific taste of the Avengers. These are all Tres Leches Pasteles. A signature dessert from Mexico. Let's start with Fury and Maria. I made your guys a two for one kind of thing. I made a weird combination of fruits for you both. It is the cake with the simple strawberry, raspberry, and blueberry combination. While you think you fully know what's on the inside due to the decorations on the outside, but wait until you taste it." Phantom nodded at Thor who placed the medium sized cake in between Fury and Maria on the table. They cut themselves a slice of the cake, and took a bite. "You put alcohol within this cake. Also you put blackberries, and a little bit of dark chocolate hidden within the middle of halves of the cakes." Phantom nodded at him and replied, "Yes. We put a very light and thin layer of dark chocolate syrup in the middle with the fruits and whip cream frosting. As for the alcohol, I put Bailey Irish Cream as part of the milk mixture and that's why you can taste the alcohol, but I didn't add enough to get you drunk."

Phantom instructed Thor to go get the next cake and when Phantom saw what it was, she explained the next cake, which was small, to its receiver. "Widow, this is your cake. I based the flavoring, decorations, and fruit selection due to how I perceived your personality. Your cake has a single strawberry surrounded only by blueberries and blackberries in two circles. If you look closer you will see a little bit of juice drizzled on top of the little amount of fruits. In the middle, there are several other hidden treasurers. Have a taste." Natasha cut a slice of the cake and she saw what was inside. "You put strawberries, cherries, blackberries, blueberries, raspberries, and… are those pineapples slices? You seemed to put chocolate syrup and some type of red spread within the middle with whip cream and fruit. Let's give it a taste." When she put the cake slice within her mouth, the cake exploded with flavor. Natasha analyzed the taste and she stated, "You put a hint of lemon juice in here as well as some dragon fruit within the cake batter. You also put a teaspoon of vodka within it." Phantom nodded her head and replied, "The fruit, syrup, and spread are what people who see within you, your past, and your skills. The fruits within the batter, well… the lemon gives a zesty twist that gives the cake a fresh and new undertone. The dragon fruit is a symbol of how you are. You give the appearance of being vicious and like you wouldn't be sweet, but on the inside, you're sweet like kiwis, watermelons, and pears." Tony snorted at Phantom's analogy and wanted to laugh until Pepper kicked him from under the table. Phantom nodded at Thor once again, and he grabbed the next cake for the next recipient.

Thor grabbed the next small cake and when she saw what it was, she glanced over to Clint. "Okay, Apollo. Your cake is inspired by your symbol. Little fruits that birds enjoy. Cherries, grapes, pomegranates, grapes, and some plums. I also put a little bourbon inside as well. Enjoy." Clint began to eat his slice of his cake and she heard him hum with delight of the taste of the cake. Thor grabbed a medium sized cake and when she saw whose it was, she stated, "Oh big guy. That one is yours." Thor glanced down to it, and looked like he really wanted to question it, but Phantom beat him to it. "I used brightly tasting fruits that I think you never would have had with your cake, Thor. I also put in some of the ale that's in your little pouch in your pocket. I snatched it off of you, then put it back when I was finished with it. I didn't want to use too much, so I put three drips of it into the cake mix. I hope that is enough for it to give a taste since I have never had it before. I believe the puree that I made was passion fruit with a blend of guava and a hint of kumquat and tamarind to give it a little kick. The fruits that blend and excel the puree are the pineapples, dragon fruit, and mangos. I drizzled some dark chocolate over the fruits. I hope you enjoy it, but first I want to give everyone their cakes before you and I eat, is that alright?" Thor nodded his head and placed the cake in front of his seat. The next cake he present was a small cake with a simple fruit concepts. When Phantom glanced at it and saw who it was for.

Phantom began, "Well this is for the good doctor. This cake it a collection of what I see of you, Brucie. Your cake is inspired by what you like and what you shoot for in your life. Your cake is alcohol-free and I used calming fruits and scents for your cake. I used dark chocolate that has a hint of something inside of it while the fruit I chose is apple. The sponge cake is your typical vanilla, which is already calm and soothing on its own, but the dark chocolate is healthy in some retrospects and the richness is relaxing to some people. I always associate apples to apple cinnamon, which gives a homely feel to any environment due to the smell and taste. I sprinkled the apples with cinnamon to give it that homely scent and taste. Enjoy." Bruce took a slice of the cake, which was only simple and had no design, but it was only decorated with the whip cream. He took a bite of the slice and as soon as the scent and taste hit him, he knew the exact secret ingredient that she used with the dark chocolate syrup. "Is this mint?" Bruce asked Phantom, who was nodding her head slightly. She responded with happiness in her voice, "I know mint is very calm and soothing. It also helps with headaches and negative emotions. So, overall it's calming and prevents you from "hulking out."" Bruce said thank you with a sincerely smile on his face. Phantom smiled back to him and nodded at Thor to grab the next cake.

He came back with one of the medium cakes and when Phantom saw it, she immediately glanced at Steve. "Rogers, this cake is for you. I based your cake from your hero name and your patriotic attitude. I used apples as the main fruit concept of the cake. At the top, you'll find think apple slices in the shape of bunnies with blueberries all together to shape a circular American Flag. The red stripes are the apples while the blue is the blueberries. The white stripes is just the naked whip cream and the white stars are blueberries covered with white chocolate. The white chocolate was cooked with a little something special and so was the sponge cake." Steve admired the cake for a second, cut a slice, and took a bite. He let the cake, fruit, and cream settle on his tongue. The white chocolate on the blueberry began to melt on his mouth. "Mmmmmm. The white chocolate has vanilla within it, doesn't it?" Phantom smiled and nodded her head. Steve bit down on the sponge cake and a hint of cherries along with the sponge cake. "Mmmm, cherry. My favorite," Steve stated in ecstasy. Phantom smiled and stated, "I used cherry extract within the sponge cake to give another depth of flavor for you. The fact that it was your favorite was just a happy coincidence." Steve looked at her with compassion in his eyes, tilted his head slightly, and stated, "Thank you for making all of us individual cakes. I know that it must have took you some thought and extra effort just to suit our taste, so thank you." Phantom felt her face get a little warm and she mumbled, "No problem." Thor grabbed the second to last cake, which was the third medium cake, and when she saw it, she immediately looked at Tony and held a cocky look.

"Okay, Senor Flashy. You cake is the most showy and has the most extra ingredients out of everyone else's. The top of your cake is inspired by your vibrant personality. I used mangos, pineapples, kiwis, and blueberries, naturally. I used the fruits to shape your Iron-Man helmet, except for the kiwis that I used to decorate the sides. Underneath the fruit, I did milk chocolate swirls over the whip cream to give it your romantic flirty side. The cream has lots of scotch, but I made sure that the cream color wouldn't change. The inside is what's going to be the game changer for you." Everyone had to plug their noses from the over-bearing scent of scotch. Tony took a big whiff and sighed ecstatically, "Ooooooooo. This is going to be amazing." Tony cut a slice of the cake, grabbed himself a scoop with his fork, and plopped it into his mouth. Tony's face went into immediate shock. He swallowed it, scooped the top with icing and fruits, ate it, and swirled it around his mouth. "Okay, I understand the outside, now what's going on with in inside?" Tony sliced the part of the cake without the icing and outer fruits, put it into his mouth, and explained. "This cake is so simple on the inside. Why does the cream on the inside taste like apples, and the fruit is bananas?" Phantom smirked at him and asked, "Do you want me to why I made the inside the way it is?" Tony nodded at her, and she stated, "I based your cake on your life and a Broadway song called "The Colors of My Life." Your outer personality is very vibrant and showy. Therefore the colors are bountiful, bold, glimmering, splendorous, dazzling, and the colors of your life will leave a shining light to show the way. The inside of the cake is more of the "Colors of My Life" reprisal. When I came to visit you before I left, I got to see your deep inside personality that you like to repress. You're very caring and you can be easily broken and disturbed. You also are very sweet, like when you offer free food and living arrangements for us, even though you don't have to. I used apples with the whip cream and I cut some bananas for the middle. Both fruits are calming and have soothing effects." Tony looked down at the cake, and gave it a sincere smile and stated, "Thank you."

Phantom nodded at his response, then to Thor, who went to grab the final medium sized cake. Thor sat it down in front of her. She waved her right hand over to Sun Wukong and Peter to come in closer. "Guests, I ask you to share with an Avenger you are close or associate with. Peter, Sunny. This is our cake that us three will be sharing. Notice the keyword there Sunny, SHARING! Our cake is very traditional. It has mangos on the edge, strawberries were next in line with some grapes scattered, some kiwis came next to the circle, then the pineapples, and finally a cherry with whip cream on top. I don't know about you two, but I want the cherry. When it comes to other slices, I really don't care how many either of you want, but I want each of us to have a slice." Both of the boys smiled and nodded at her request and Sun cut the cake in three ways. All three of them took a bit of the cakes at the same time. Phantom kept her usual stoic expression, Peter looked to be in bliss, while Sun went to quickly eat the rest of his share. Phantom ate haft of hers, Sun ate all of his, and Peter only ate a fourth. Phantom stated, "Okay guys that was amazing food. Now we need use some of the energy we got from the food. Anyone got any ideas?"

Thor was the first to stand and he stated, "Let us take to the battle field, where we shall demonstrate our skill and our energy shall be diminished." Phantom raised her right hand and stated, "Ugh, big guy? Yeah… no. I'm in a chair and have no use in my left hand, so I'm gonna have to say no. Plus, I don't believe fighting on a full or empty stomach, because you could get sick. So, I'm gonna say fighting is a no go. Anything else?" Everyone just glanced back and forth from each other until Thor suggested, "My mother and father would often dance after we feast. Shall we dance?" Phantom thought about it for a split second and replied, "All right. Sun, do you know the steps for the traditional Scottish dance?" Sun nodded his head and Phantom stated, "I need you to do the pushing for my footsteps. As for holding my hands, I can't close my left hand, so you'll have to just use it like it's a fish." Thor nodded his head at her request, held out his left hand for her to take it in her right hand. Sun pushed her forward as Thor walked. Phantom looked up to the ceiling and requested, "Okay, J.A.R.V.I.S., will you please put on "Masters In This Hall" from my Starkphone over the speakers?" J.A.R.V.I.S. asked, "The children's choir or the adult choir version, Miss Phantom?" Phantom smirked and stated, "Children's choir please." J.A.R.V.I.S. put on the musical piece and Phantom and Thor bowed to each other and did a traditional Renaissance dance. Everyone watch as the two did the dance as Sun just pushed the chair. After the song ended the both bowed to each other while everyone else clapped. Phantom and Thor laughed at each other after they bowed.

Phantom glanced at Sun and requested, "You wanna dance next?" Sun smiled and nodded at her request. Phantom yelled, "J.A.R.V.I.S., let's play… LET'S STAY IN OUR PJS!" Sun just laughed at her requested song, picked her up from her chair, and began to do a silly dance that consisted with lifting, lowing, and dipping to the Big Time Rush song. The whole song they were singing along while laughing. At the end, the both couldn't contain their laughter. Phantom then yelled, "ONE MORE! LET'S DO "CHRISTMAS TIME WITH GREENSLEEVES" THE CHIPMUNK VERSION!" The song was slow and smooth. Sun moved his feet slowly to the beat while swaying with Phantom in his arms. The two young mercenaries gazed into each other's eyes. Tony and Steve glared at their intimate moment with the Chipmunks playing. At the end Sun pulled Phantom really close into a deep hug. Phantom smiled and requested, "Okay guys, who's next?" Steve was about to walk up, until Tony took her chair and stated, "Me. I'm next." Sun kissed Phantom's forehead as he sat her down in her chair. Phantom looked up to Tony with her eyes asking if he was ready and when he nodded, Phantom yelled, "Okay, J.A.R.V.I.S., let's do Dean Martin's "Let It Snow."" As soon as the music went, Tony positioned himself in front of Phantom's chair while he was leaning to her eyelevel while spinning, pushing, and pulling on the chair to the beats. During the song, Tony sang along to the song and made funny commentary and faces during the song. Such as, "The lights are way down low, not really cause it's New York," or "As long as you me tight, All the way home I'll be warm, not really cause you're small and give no body heat." Those two comments made Phantom laugh really hard. At the end of the song, Tony tilted the chair back to make it seem that Phantom was dipped. Phantom giggled after he dipped her chair. He put her chair back into its normal position, embraced her, and they both shared a deep hug.

After a moment of the two hugging, Phantom pulled away and looked at Steve and asked, "You wanted to dance as well, didn't you?" Steve nodded his head softly. When Tony wouldn't let go of her, she had to push him a little to get him to let go. Pepper went to grab him, told him to go dance with her and allow Steve and Phantom to dance. Phantom said, "Okay J.A.R.V.I.S., I want something slow, but I'm not totally sure which exact piece I want, so… surprise me." J..A.R.V.I.S. replied politely and put on "Fairytale of New York." Steve picked Phantom out of the chair, held her form close to his body, using his right arm to hold her up to his body, and held her right hand in his left hand. Phantom's feet dangled due to Steve holding her up, and her face became blush due to his abrupt action. Steve began to dance while Phantom just held onto him tightly as she swayed her head as she gazed deeply into his eyes. His eyes held a sad look so she asked, "What's wrong?" Steve smiled and tried to push her question off, but she wouldn't let it go. "Rogers, you wanted me to be straightforward about my emotions, but its gotta be a give and take kind of thing. What's wrong?" Phantom requisitioned as she squeezed her right hand in reassurance. Steve dropped his smile and stated, "Before I went into the ice… I promised my first dance back to a woman who I was close to during the war." Phantom gave him a sad smile and stated, "People come and go. Life and death, yin and yang, good and bad. So yes, you may have lost the opportunity then, you can say you gain something from this time, right?" Steve smiled at her response and stated while looking deeply into her eyes, "Yeah, I think I just might have."

They only continued to dance in silence. When the song ended, they both just gazed into each other's eyes until Tony pulled Phantom's form away from Tony to get it back to her chair. "STARK, ROGERS CAN PUT ME INTO MY CHAIR ON HIS OWN!" Phantom yelled to Tony who pulled her away and put her in her chair. She looked over to Steve and stated, "Yeah, I kind of thought that would have happened. I can't apologize for him. He'll have to do that for himself." Tony just gave a look that stated, "No." Phantom laughed at Tony's childish actions. She looked over to Peter and asked, "So, Petey, you wanna dance next?" Peter rose from his seat being very nervous. He walked over to her and she yelled, "Okay, J.A.R.V.I.S. let's do "The World for Christmas." Now Peter, I gotta warn you, the beat is a little hard to identify, so just have with it, okay?" Peter nodded and he began to push and pull her seat from the front to give the impression of them dancing. Towards the end, she noticed that he seemed to be getting tired, so she pulled him onto her lap as she used her aerokinetic powers to push her chair slowly. After Peter got embarrassed, he saw that she wanted him to relax, so he did his best to relax in that moment, and when he made a cute smile, it caused Phantom to return his smile. After Peter noticed her smile through her mask, it caused him to feel warm and he began to go into a fit of giggles as did Phantom. She leaned her forehead against his as they both continued their laughter. The both giggled/danced even after the song finished. Phantom was the first to stop, so she glanced up and stated, "Oh, Petey, check it out. Mistletoe." Peter's face immediately blushed out, until Phantom pulled him close and gave him a soft peck against his right cheek as she stated, "Merry Christmas, Peter." Peter blushed even more than before causing his face to turn as red as the mistletoe berry was. Sun came over, pulled Peter off of Phantom, and Tony yelled, "Okay, I think we did enough dancing. NOW IT'S GIFT GIVING TIME!"

Phantom giggled at everyone's reaction to the situation. Tony ran over to Phantom's chair and pushed her over to where everyone was gathering for the present exchange. "Tony, you didn't tell anyone that we were doing a gift exchange," Pepper scolded at Tony. Tony shrugged and stated, "Well, I got gifts for everyone and Phantom got gifts for all the Avengers. I think that's good enough." Phantom smiled and stated, "It's okay, Miss Pepper. I want to give people their gifts, if that's alright with you?" Pepper smiled at the young girl's request and nodded. She began by gesturing to Bruce to go over to her as she reach down for a file. She grabbed the file and gave it to him while stating, "Okay, Brucie. This file is some of a doctor who I encountered a couple of years ago. It's based on genetic mutation and genetic alteration. In addition, in front of those files, there are couple of scanned copies of monk mediation and articles on how to control anger and calming idealology. I figured that you would like that kind of thing. Happy Holidays." Bruce smiled, accepted it, thanked her, and gave her his own properly wrapped gift. The box was red and had green ribbons to create a bow on top. When she opened it, she saw a little black pouch that had a long black string inside of it. The string was in a complete circle and Bruce explained, "This is for you to play cat's cradle. There is also lots of bags of my own personal tea leaves and labeled medications for you to use when you're sick or injured. I also put in a diamond shaped pendant that hums a soft jingle." Phantom smiled and thanked him for the gift.

Fury and Maria were in the next two to come forward. Phantom simply stated, "My gift for you two is the knowledge to know that the Erinyes Guild has been destroyed and the guild master has been decapitated." Fury lifted his eyebrow but Phantom only replied, "I refuse to go into details, but you're the first people to know." Fury nodded at her and gestured Maria to take notes and inform and put the information into the S.H.I.E.L.D. files. Phantom threw a black flash drive to Natasha and yelled, "Widow, the drive's got money and there is a giant case of Authentic Russian Vodka in your floor's kitchen." Natasha nodded at her and stated, "Your gifts is in weaponry storage on the training floor. I think you'll enjoy them." Phantom nodded at her and waved Clint to come over to her. When he did, she made me push her over to where no one else was. She whispered him in his ear, "Okay, Barton. Listen well. Your gift is my discretion as well as the surprise on your floor. I know about Laura, Cooper, and Lila. Your secret is safe with me and I got you and your family gifts that are on floor. I don't believe in ruining families who don't deserve it. Happy Holidays." Clint's face immediately went pale and he held fear in his eyes until she told him that his secret was safe and why it was. He knew Phantom's reputation about only went after people who went after self-gain. He looked at her and asked, "Would you sign a gag?" Phantom smiled and replied, "Already did, on your counter on your floor." Clint smiled and said, "Your gift is in your panty on your floor. They're spreads, jams, jellies, and crafts that Laura makes. She wanted me to tell you that if you want to attempt it, you could have a chance to have a normal life and start over." Phantom thanked him and stated, "Thanks, but I need my mercenary job for information. I appreciate the offer though. Happy Holiday, Barton." Clint hugged and whispered, "Merry Christmas, Phantom." He pushed her back over to the others and Tony questioned, "What secrets are you both keeping?" Phantom smiled and stated, "You don't need to know yet. Eventually you will, just not now." Tony wanted to further push the issue, but Pepper didn't allow him to.

Phantom picked up a book that she created and handed it to Thor while proclaiming, "Okay, big guy, this is for you. I know that you do not fully understand English yet, so I translated it to ancient Norwegian to translate our world to you. I gave you the ups and down, what's here and what's not, what's okay and not okay to do in our world. In the beginning, the book is in your language, but as you get to the end, the book converts more to English whereas the end is in complete English. Hope you like it." Thor opened the book and began to read it. "You don't have bildshnipe, elves, natural monsters, nor champions other than the… "O-lim-pick?"" Phantom nodded at him and stated, "And there is way more intel inside of that book, so have fun reading it." Thor looked upset and Phantom stated, "I know reading isn't your thing, but in the long run it's going to help you." Thor looked up and replied, "Then I shall read it and absorb the knowledge of this realm. A thousand thanks, Young Phantom. Have the happiest of holidays. I have a scroll of the ancient trainings of the Valkyries that I have placed within your room. Please enjoy and allow it to further your skills." Phantom smiled at him and thanked him. Sun walked up and stated, "A kiss is all I need, my lovely torta." Phantom laughed at him and gave him a kiss on the cheek and whispered, "Your real gift is your freedom from the guild, as well as the payment, and a new staff that I bought from Wakanda. Happy Holidays, Sun." He kissed her cheek back and whispered, "You're gift is the reticence about your living arrangements and some cute jewelry in your jewelry box." Phantom laughed and told him thanks.

Phantom looked over to Peter and motioned him to her and Sun. Peter walked forward and Phantom held out her hand over to Sun, who reached down into his coat and pulled out Peter's gift bag from Best Buy. He handed it to her, walked to the elevator, and went up, then Phantom gave it to Peter while stating, "I know I told you to open this tomorrow, but since we had this dinner party, I figured that this would be a better time. So here, enjoy and I already burned the receipt, so I can not return it." Peter looked very confuse by her statement and when he had opened the gift, the biggest look of happiness came onto his face. "You got me a StarkPhone… the newest StarkPhone too, with a case." Phantom smiled at him and replied, "Yep. It's a gift, so you cannot return it. You are also joining my service plan, so you don't have to pay for service time." Peter looked really guilty and stated, "I feel so bad. Sun is getting your gift. Please, don't be mad when you see him." It was Phantom's turn to get confused, so she questioned, "Him?" The elevator then dinged to signal that Sun was back. When everyone turned to the elevator they saw a giant black furry dog come out with Sun Wukong. Sun led the dog to her and stated, "Alright, Phantom. This is your new dog. It's a wolfdog that is about one thirty-second of dog. When I went to get the kid, he was talking with his family about how they couldn't keep the dog, so I asked if he had a gift for you, and when he showed me it, I vetoed it. I recommended the dog, because I know that you have a more permanent place to live and because you're overly fond of animals." Phantom glanced down to the wolfdog and she saw that it had a muzzle over his mouth. She looked at Sun questioningly and he replied, "He attempted to attack me because I am a stranger and with your condition, I wasn't going to chance it." Phantom then took note that the wolfdog was keeping its distance from any humans. Phantom used her abilities to push her herself forward towards the beast, she heard it growl, as she reached across the back of the muzzle to unlatch it, and removed it from the animal slowly. The animal kept a look of confusion and protectiveness as she put the muzzle on the ground to the side of her chair. Phantom gazed into the animal's eyes and she saw his deep fear in the wolfdog's eyes. Phantom raised her left arm to extend her hand towards the beast and as a natural reaction, the animal bit into her hand. All of the Avengers and Sun Wukong lurched forward towards Phantom, but she reached her other hand up to show them a signal stay where they were and stated, "It's alright. I have no feeling in my left hand right now, so I used the paralyzation to my advantage."

Phantom swiftly used her skills to extend her right hand to the animals hand and Phantom saw that the wolfdog bit into her left hand even harder than before. Phantom pet the animal's head as softly as she could to signal that she wasn't a threat to the animal. Phantom saw that the animal loosened it bite, until she leaned her head against its. The wolfdog had even more fear and confusion than before. Phantom used the moment of confusion to look into the animal's mind and memories. She saw a dark large lab, many cages, many different animals in the facility, all sad and scared. She looked at the date and she saw that it was dated back in 2000. She went even further into the beast's memories and she saw Hydra uniformed soldiers electrocuting, torturing, and ejecting the poor creature with many needles. She continued to watch to see the soldiers pull, choke, kick, and beat the beast profoundly. Phantom pushed the memories to go towards the end, she saw that the animal was at death's door when the soldiers threw it over a cliff with other animals that died. The poor animal made it through the fall and managed to recover on its own, but every time it tried to make a human friend, they would either beat, starve, or try to shoot it. She saw that wolfdog made its way into the city, and scavenged for its food, but it wouldn't eat anything alive. Phantom saw Peter feeding the animal his only hotdog, and gave it his entire meal for lunch. She saw that Peter repeated the process for a long time, until Peter tried to take him home, but Peter's Aunt and Uncle wouldn't allow him to stay.

When Phantom came back to reality, Phantom understood why the animal was so fearful, so in order to show him that she understood his pain, she sent her memories into the wolfdog's mind. The wolfdog's eye went blank for a couple of minutes, until she heard it whimpering, so she stopped. The animal realized that the animal was still biting into the girl's hand, so it let go. She recognized the guilt within its eyes, so she leaned her head against its once more and sent happy memories of her times with the Avengers. After both of them came back, the animal began to lick her wound as a sign of apology. Phantom softly pet the wolfdog as her way of telling it that what he did was alright. Phantom glanced over to Tony and asked like a little girl asking for a dog, "Can I keep him, Mr. Stark? He's got nowhere to go and neither did I for a certain time. Please?" Tony looked annoyed, but happy that she was showing her emotions. His eyebrow twitched slightly at the confliction, until Pepper touched his arm softly and whispered into his ear, "Tony, every child needs a pet. This might be the thing that might make her stay and not go into her mercenary work. Plus, it'll be on her floor for most of the time anyway, unless they go for a walk." Tony gave her a look of incredulous and thought, "On one hand, I don't do animals or pets. On the other, it'll give Phantom a reason to stay and act a little normal, but it is a wolf, not an actual dog." Tony thought about it for a couple of moments until he caught something that he would never forget. Phantom was looking at him with her eyes looking huge and hopeful such as young puppies do when they beg, they also a little watery as if she was going to cry if he said no to her. Tony felt his gumption and negative thinking falter at her gaze, and his reserve finally incinerated, "Dammit… sooo cute… FUCK, FINE! YOU CAN KEEP HIM! BUT YOU'RE GOING TO BE THE ONE THAT SLEEPS WITH IT, CLEANS IT AND IT MESSES, AND FEED IT! I'll pay for the food, but you need to remember to feed it."

Phantom's eyes went wide with excitement so she yelled her thanks as she wrapped her arms around the beast. "So have you named him Peter, since you're the one who made friends with him in the city?" Phantom asked Peter, who only shook his head in response. Phantom had an image appear into her head without any warning and she only saw numbers on the cage where the dog was experimented on. "24601, huh? So many Les Mis jokes, but this might be the inspiration I need. How do you like the name "Jean Valjean?" The wolfdog only shook its head at the name, so Phantom furrowed her eyebrows to think of another name. "How about Luciano?" Phantom inquired, but once again the animal shook its head. Phantom thought long until she suggested, "How about… Cerberus? After the guard dog of the underworld?" The dog nodded its head slightly and it caused Phantom to gain a giant smile on her face. "YAY! YOU'RE NOW MY CERBERUS!" Phantom exclaimed as she gave Cerberus a giant hug. "Peter, thank you so much. I love him already!" Phantom proclaimed as she pulled Peter to her, kissed his cheek, and hugged him as hard as she did to Cerberus. Peter became a blubbering mess she pulled him in, but melted towards the floor when she kissed and hugged him. Phantom let him go while giggling at his reaction. Phantom took the leash from Sun, and unhooked the leash from the Cerberus collar so that he could roam freely.

Steve was the next person to walk up to the young mercenary. The wolfdog began to growl as Steve approached Phantom, as if he was warning him to stay away and not hurt her. Phantom pet his head and explained, "It's okay, Cerberus. He's a friend. We'll be okay." When Steve approached them, Phantom gestured him to pet Cerberus and allow him to smell him. This gained a familiarity between the two, so Cerberus wouldn't feel threatened by Steve later. Phantom picked up Steve's present from under the tree and handed it to him, while he handed his to her. Phantom removed the wrapping, only to have it revealed a pencil stencil drawing of her. It was a side view of her face while she looked up to the sky. The sky was clear and had some birds flying through it. The sky didn't have much detail, but Phantom's hair and face did. Her hair was down and several strands flying through the wind behind her. Her mask was detailed to the shadow format and had a small detail pattern of the stitching. What really caught Phantom's attention was the detail in the single eye that was visualized. Her eyes held hope and light within them, but deep near the pupil held a sadness within them. Phantom felt speechless of the gift as she exclaim, "Rogers… I mean… Steve. This is… amazing. I didn't even know you could draw. Wow. Thank you, so much." Steve smiled at her and he proclaimed, "I actually have been working on that since the Battle of New York, so I had a lot of time to work on it. Thank you, I'm not that bad as an artist, but I do try my hardest." Phantom smiled at his statement.

He began to open her gift and Phantom stated, "I feel like your gift is so shitty now compared to yours." Steve gave her a stern look and ordered, "You need to watch your language. I bet your gift is as well thought out as the others were." He finished unwrapping it and it revealed her binder. Phantom explained, "Since you're new to our time, I thought I would make a binder to show up what all you've missed since being within the ice. It has music, movies, important events, people, slang words and definitions, along with current information. I also made recommendations for certain places, music, and movies for when you want to feel certain emotions. Like, I personally enjoy watching "The Nightmare Before Christmas" during this time of year. It's actually my favorite holiday movie. (AN: Yes, it actually is my favorite) I also recommend opera music for whenever I'm working. It's so nice to hear gorgeous fully trained voices singing." Steve looked through the binder until something caught his eye at the end, so e questioned, "Nice date places with times of year?" Phantom nodded and replied, "Well… this is because I know Natasha's been trying to set you up, so I thought that this would be helpful for you." Steve furrowed his eyebrows a tad, but chose not to say anything. Clint piped up from his spot and yelled, "Hey guys, there's something above you both." Phantom and Steve both looked up to see a mistletoe attached to a fork above them on the ceiling. Steve blushed profoundly, trying to stutter out an excuse about why they couldn't kiss. Phantom pulled his hand, causing his body to pull towards her. He stopped himself from falling on her, but his face was near hers. She put her hand on his cheek gently and gave him a light kiss on the lips, which caused several men in the room to interject at her actions. She just yelled, "YES, YES, YES. I KNOW! Just get over it, it's over and done. Now let's move on. Thank you Steve for your gift. It is amazing and I'm going to frame it after Christmas." Steve, who was still blushing from her kiss, only nodded as a response and walked over to Natasha who was smirking at his reaction.

Tony gave a look of anger at Steve as he went over to Phantom and Cerberus. Once again, Cerberus growled at the man who was approaching them, until Phantom calmed him down and had Tony pet him. Cerberus licked him to show him that he didn't see Tony as a threat. Tony went behind Phantom's chair and pushed her over to the desk with a folder with her codename on it. Phantom raised her eyebrow and went to grab it until Tony stopped her by touching her hand softly. Tony addressed everyone and had Pepper come over to them, "Everyone, I know that these past couple have been hard since we all couldn't keep in touch. I also know several of us remained in contact, while others really couldn't at the time. I want us to be closer and help each other out more, so I came up with an idea with my lovely Pepper over here. We decided to create the Avenger's Tower. A safe haven for all of to reside in whenever we need a place to sleep. Along with that, I have came to another conclusion. It was after the Battle, that I fully realized something. One of us, has the potential to have a life that none of us haven't had, except for Bruce. I made this decision with Pepper and I consulted it with my lawyers, close colleagues, and some of the fellow Avengers." Tony took a knee towards Phantom who still held a look on confusion on her face, and continued, "Phantom, I know you're still young. I understand that you still want to continue your mercenary work, but I also know that you need stability in your life, just like I do. With that said, I want to invite you to become a Stark." Phantom eyebrows lifted high to show how much that request surprised her. She began to shake her head and tried to splutter out her response, until Tony interrupted her, "Phantom, I'm not going stop you from your work, nor the pursuit of your questions and inquiries. My adopting of you is just an insurance for your life. I need a successor and you need a home. Now am I going be fatherly of you? Of course I am. That's because I am older and therefore have more wisdom. The choice is yours, but I want to remind you of the benefits of being a Stark. You can go to any university that you wish. You have an all access pass to all my bank accounts, houses, laboratories, inventions, and vehicles. You will also have many opportunities, a title, and two loving adoption parents."

Phantom held her confusion within her eyes. Pepper walked up, Tony pet his arm around her waist, and explained, "Pepper, here, had signed on to your adoptive mother, while I am signed on to be your adoptive father. You don't have to address us as such, but we will think of you as our daughter, if that's alright with you. I know you have familial issues as well as trust issues, as do I, but if you allow us, we would like to accept you into our lives. And since your old enough and I came up with the idea, I won't have any heart attacks about finding out I have a kid." Phantom smiled at the end part of Tony's request, but throughout most of it she held her usual stoic expression, but everyone saw the fear within her eyes. She stay quiet for a moment as she struggled to come up with her response, "Mr. Stark, Miss Pepper, I… I… I'm honored, but… *sigh* I don't believe I could ever be a part of a family again. I wouldn't remember how to act, nor would I know how to address you. Plus I feel as if I'm betraying my birth family. I just… I want to say thank you. Truly, but I'm gonna have to say…" Tony raised his free hand to stop her and spoke, "Before you answer. I will have to have you know that if you refuse, that I will call child protective services come to take you and due to you being under legal age to be on your own, and finally legally force you to become my daughter. Even if I have to bribe a judge and I can go higher than you to bribe them." Phantom looked surprised by this statement and replied with a cocky tone, "How exactly do you think they'll actually know my exact age?" Tony smirked at her question and replied with his own cocky tone, "Blood test. They can tell your age that way, or at least give an estimate, which I know will still be under eighteen years old."

Phantom smiled at his reply and said, "So it's either sign the papers and get this over with, or we could draw this out with the same end results? Well… I have conditions before I sign this document. You can't stop my mercenary work, nor interrupt me when I'm on an assignment unless I request so. You cannot order any of the Avengers to watch over me, ever. You cannot dig into my past, unless either I die or I give you the information myself. No one expect for those present will know that I'm your adoptive daughter. For your and my own safety. I can come and go as I please. You have no say on my drinking habits. You have no say in my love life, or my future. That should be all of my demands." Tony thought about it and responded, "We will consult on your mercenary work, I won't ask any of the Avengers to watch you. I'm okay with the information and adoption notice, you will be given a curfew when you're in the city unless you are on a job. You will be given a drinking limit, I want to meet all the boys who come into your life and I can criticize them if I please, and I will be giving you allowances as well jobs. The biggest impact of your life for your job is that I want you to stop killing. If it is a you or them situation, then I can make an exception, but if you can make it without killing, than that is what you are to do." Phantom's face faltered and asked, "Are you serious? What kind of mercenary doesn't kill? That cuts down my business to pretty much only 10% compare to other mercenaries. I cannot just not…" Tony interrupted her and said, "Yes you can. You don't need the money. You have my inheritance, your allowance, and I can buy anything you need. Killing people doesn't make you a mercenary, it only makes you a murderer. My job as your adoptive father is going to reform and shape you to be the best version of you that there can be. Which implies that your red hands are going to be cleansed from now on with our help. No more killing and I will not negotiate on that. You're curfew can change, so can your allowance, but the killing aspect is one thing I will not change."

Sun Wukong walked up from behind her, placed his hand on her shoulder, and stated his peace, "Phantom, it's a good deal. I know killing takes a lot of jobs off of the market, but recovery assignments pay well. So does security detail. I would take the deal, it does give you so many benefits. Take the deal." Phantom nodded her head, grabbed the pen from the table, and signed the document as she read it through. When she saw something particular, she inquired, "You put fifteen years old as my current age?" Tony nodded and stated, "I went with the average for the dates you've given me. So fifteen is a good age for you." Phantom raised her eyebrow at him until Peter piped up, "Fifteen isn't too bad. I'm only thirteen." Everyone shot their eyes at Peter and Phantom asked, "YOU'RE THIRTEEN! I THOUGHT YOU WERE LIKE TEN OR ELEVEN, OH MY GOD!" That response caused Tony to die of laughter. Peter blushed out of embarrassment, and Phantom immediate felt bad and apologized, "Oh, Peter, I'm so sorry, but… you look like you're ten." She went back to reading the paperwork. When she saw that everything else was fine and in order, she finished reading the paperwork when the final line caught her eye, and asked, "So my newly adoptive name is Phantom Carmen Potts-Stark?" Tony and Pepper both nodded at the same time. Pepper with a motherly approval within her eyes while Tony held a look of extreme excitement. Phantom turned to everyone and asked, "So are you going to announce me, or am I to do it myself?" Tony and Pepper walked forward to both sides of her chair and Tony announced, "Everyone, it's not yet fully official until we get the state stamp, but I'd like to introduce my daughter, Phantom Carmen Potts-Pepper. All boys need my permission to speak and associate with her." Phantom shot a glare at Tony and reminded him, "Tony. Again, you can't interfere with my love life." Tony smirked at her and replied, "I never agreed to that." Phantom just shook her head at him and stated, "Well, that's a adopted dad." Everyone laughed at her response.

Thor went over to the tree and yelled, "There are still five gifts left under the tree." Phantom's face it up and she yelled, "OH I FORGOT YOUR GUYS GIFTS! Steve, since Thor can't fully read English yet, can you grab the gifts that say Pepper's and Tony's names?" Steve abliged by grabbing the gifts and handing them to Phantom. Phantom looked at her adopted parents and she stated, "Well, Stark, Pepper. These gifts are for you two. Stark, I got you something for your anxiety. I know how something like this help people. Plus, it gives you something for your hands to use. Pepper, your gift is something that reminds me of my mom. Don't ask any questions because I don't want reminiscence with her." Both of them opened their gifts at their exact same time. Pepper was the first the finish unwrapping her gift. She saw the music trinket box and her face went to immediate awe. She saw the silver vines intertwining with each other, with several flowers that was shaped with real gems. She opened trinket box and heard gorgeous music box music playing. She listened to it a moment until she asked, "What is this song?" Phantom gave a sad smile that showed that she remembered the song and she replied, "It's "I Heard Someone Crying" from the Secret Garden Musical. My mom adored this piece and so do I." Tony was the next one to open his gift. He saw a black velvet rectangular box. The black box had little specks of silver to decorate it like the sky. He opened the box to reveal two small spheres. One was decorated red and gold with the pattern design of a circuit. The other ball was painted to have each of a beautiful forest in the nighttime with a night sky that held shades of black, navy, blue, and tad of purple. There was also stars and actual constellations of the stars. Tony saw it and was astonished by it, "Wow, this detail is amazing. It's so thorough and professional. How much did this cost you?" Phantom just smiled and replied, "This didn't cost me much. The man who did these has known me for years." Tony took them out of the box and heard them chiming. Phantom smiled at his confusion and stated, "They are meditation balls! You can roll them around in your hand to relax yourself or give you something to do." Tony rolled them around his hand slowly to get the hang of it. He smiled at the action and stated, "I actually like this. It's calming and simple. I need simple things in my life." Phantom smiled at his expression and said, "I hoped you would really like them." Tony just kept spinning them with astonishment.

Steve brought over the two last small gifts that were under the tree over to the three and stated, "These two were labeled to you from Mr. Koto." Phantom opened the very tiny box and it revealed a velvet necklace box. She opened the necklace box to reveal a gold heart shaped locket with white diamonds and a large London Blue Topaz. She opened the locket and she saw a portrait of biological family. She closed it quickly, so not to reveal the picture to anyone. She put the necklace on and proceeded to open the other gift. When she unwrapped it, Phantom saw the Anastasia Trinket Box. She smiled at it softly and stated quietly so that no one could hear her, "It's just like my mom's." She held the trinket box closely to chest over her heart. Tony put his hand on her shoulder and asked, "Phantom, you okay, hun?" She snapped out of her memories and replied, "Yeah, I'm back. I'm good. The final gift, the really large gift is for everyone to open at once. I won't open it cause I'm the one who ordered it." Thor pulled the giant wrapped gift out from the tree and pulled it to the middle of the living space. Steve grabbed the top left corner, Thor grabbed the top right corner, Clint grabbed the bottom left, Natasha grabbed the bottom right, Fury grabbed the left side edge, Maria grabbed the right side edge, and Tony went for the middle. Everyone opened it up to reveal a portrait of the Avengers. It had Iron Man flying first, Captain jumping with his shield, Thor flying with his hammer, Natasha kicking forward, Clint falling forward with an arrow ready, Bruce in Hulk form with both of his fist ready to smash down, and Phantom with her scythe ready to swing with her body. The portrait was within a beautiful golden frame that twisted with circles. Tony was first to speak and he stated, "This is excellently done. How much did this cost you?" Phantom smiled and replied, "You don't need to know that. Let's just hang it up here in the living room for all of us to view." Tony nodded at her request and glanced over to Thor and Steve, clapped his hands, and ordered, "Chop, chop, chop. Men. Your both the tallest, so therefore, you should be the ones to put it up." Phantom slapped Tony's arm to show that he needed to be respectful towards the two men. "Would you two please put up the portrait above the fireplace?" Both of the men nodded at her request, picked up the portrait, and put it in the location that she wanted. Everyone admired the newly hung painting. "Wow, we really look like a well-rounded group, don't we?" Natasha stated. Everyone else just nodded in agreement.

Tony and Pepper gathered next to Phantom, and they both held her from both sides, until she felt the work go black. She felt sick and woosey, and she felt that she need to state her peace, "Um, guys? I know this is killing the moment, but um… I'm losing energy kinda quickly. I need to repair my hand, which means I need to take a bath. I want to wish you all happy holidays and happy New Year, since I probably won't wake up until after New Year's. If you wanna say goodbye to me, just stop me on my way out. Cerberus, come." The wolf came walking up to her and pushed her towards the elevator. Peter was the first to stop her. "Hey, Phantom. Since you're going to be staying within the city more, I was wondering if you and I could possibly hang out? You don't have to if you don't want to, I completely understand if you don't…" Phantom silenced him with her forefinger plaved upon his lips, kissed his cheek softly, and replied sweetly, "Peter, don't sell yourself short. I'd love to hang out with you. I'll text you, okay?" Peter blushed profoundly and only nodded as his response. Sun was the next to approach so he asked, "So, Phantom you want me to take the kid home right? You are also gonna call me when you wake up so we can go do some assignments together. I'll see you next year." Sun gave her a giant kiss on the cheek. Phantom laughed and exclaimed that she would see him next year. Steve and Sun both then walked over to the elevator together while yelling their goodbyes to everyone. Thor came up next and proclaimed, "Young Phantom, I thank you for invitation to this glorious feast and festivities to gather with my fellow Avengers. I thank you for your gifts and I wish for you to heal up as best as you can so that we may do battle as quickly as you are able." Phantom smiled and responded, "Thanks, big guy. I'll let you know when I'm battle ready, but it's going to be at least a week." Thor nodded and proclaimed, "Then I shall wait for your recovery." He and Jane both went back to the other adults, while Clint, Natasha, Fury, and Maria walked up to her. Phantom thanked them for coming, and they all thanked her back. They all went back to the group of adults who were staying around. Steve came up to the girl as she pushed the elevator button. "So, you're going to rest up the rest until you are fully healed up, right?" Phantom nodded at his question. She gestured him to come close, when he did, she pulled him even closer to her as she gently brushed her lips against his cheek. He blushed out and she stated while going into the elevator, "Happy Holidays, Rogers." The doors then closed on her smiling figure and it took her to her floor.

When she arrived to her floor, Cerberus pushed her into her bathroom as she instructed. Phantom pulled out a toy electricity ball that many kids had when they were younger. Phantom pulled it in, placed it on a table near the bathtub, and filled up the tub with bath salts and bath bubbles. Phantom undressed herself as thoroughly as she could and went into the bathtub. Phantom let her hair down to get it wet. When she rose her head from the tub, she looked over to see Cerberus just watching her as she bathed. "Cerberus, come," she ordered the animal. The dog came over, she took off her mask, threw it to her hamper, gently brought the dogs head to her face, and took a whiff of the animal. She smelled that the animal was gross and disgusting, so she brought her legs up and stated, "Cerberus, bath time. Come in the tub." The dog jumped into the tub, which caused water to splatter everywhere. Phantom used the bubbles to scratch and scrub the wolf as much as he wanted her to. The animal thoroughly enjoyed her gentle hands as she washed its fur and untangled its knots. After a moment of scrubbing, the wolf jumped out of the tub, taking some of the water out with him, which made Phantom fill the tub with more. Phantom made herself comfy, placed her right hand on the electric ball, and had the electric currents go into the tub, causing the bolts to hit her body as fast as they could. Phantom whimpered slightly, so that she wouldn't alarm of the other Avengers. She directed the bolts to her hand which repaired the nerve currents, and sent feeling into her hand and muscles. She began to feel the bite wound that Cerberus did to her. Phantom squeezed her hand multiple times to make sure that the nerves were repaired. Phantom sent the remaining bolts back to the ball which contradicted itself and caused her fuse to short out. The lights went out for a split second, and then went back on. Tony came onto her speakers shouting, "PHANTOM, ARE YOU ALRIGHT?! DO I NEED TO COME UP?!" Phantom came back in a split second and replied, "No. I'm alright, I just fixed my hand." Phantom used the water to repair the open wound to close it up. Phantom strained herself to finish her reply, "I'm healed up. I just need to rinse off the suds, scrub my hair, and wash Cerberus." Tony replied okay and to call him if she need anything else. Phantom drained the bathwater, got into her wheel chair, and had Cerberus push her into the extremely large shower. Phantom took out the Pantene shampoo, scrubbed her hair, and then scrubbed Cerberus thoroughly. She turned on the shower water to rinse both of them off. She put in the conditioner for both of them and rinsed that off as well. After that, Phantom put on her shower gel and rinsed it off herself while Cerberus just sat down and watched. After she finished rinsing, Cerberus pushed her out and Phantom pulled off the water from both of them. Phantom put on the softest pajamas that she could find which consisted of a Mickey Mouse long sleeve shirt and pants. She also put on some wool socks and a dry facemask after she took off her makeup and after she scrubbed and rinsed her Noxzema.

Cerberus pushed her to her soft queen sized bed which had all white sheets and a white comforter. The bed had nine pillows at the head of the bed. Three body pillows with four normal sized pillows, and two tiny couch pillows. Phantom pulled herself onto her bed and pulled the comforter on her herself. "Cerberus, there is a button that opens the waterfall if you need to go outside to use the bathroom. Also, Sun put up a giant food bowl filled with doggy kibble for you to eat. The bowl is a giant bucket, so pace yourself until next week. As for the water, there is another bowl of water, but it isn't a bucket, but when you need extra water, fill up the tub and you could drink from that, okay? You can sleep in the bed with me when you want." Phantom patted the bed to signal that he could come up to lay down. Cerberus jumped up, did the little dog circle, and laid up against Phantom's form. Phantom threw one of the body pillows to the feet and stated, "Here, it's if you wanna sleep on something that won't give off body heat." The wolf laid on her arm and snuggled in closer to her. Phantom sung a soft lullaby of "Once Upon A December." Both her and Cerberus drifted off to sleep together, but before she fully fell asleep, Phantom mumbled, "Goodnight, everyone," and closed her eyes to fully fall asleep.

Two hours after both Phantom and Cerberus fell asleep, Pepper and Tony came up from the party to go check up on their newly adopted daughter. They saw that she was full asleep with the wolfdog looking up at them while staying close to her. Tony tucked Phantom in so she could have a more comfortable feeling. She moaned in delight, while Cerberus snuggled in closer to her which made her smile in her sleep. Tony sat down on the other side of her. Tony took off her mask, and that's when he got a full look on her face. She had a small nose, clear skin, and plump lips. He noticed that she had a beauty mark on her right cheek and a scar on her lower lip on the right side. Tony touched it softly and realized it was from something that went completely through the lip. He also noticed that she had a scar on her right side of her neck, which gave it a very tiny dent. Tony softly touch her left cheek, kissed her forehead, and whispered, "Goodnight, mija." Tony scratched Cerberus and stated, "You keep an eye on her, okay, Cerberus? No one except me, Pepper, or Bruce get to come in, okay?" The wolf wagged his tail as his way of agreeing and snuggled in even closer to Phantom. Tony turned off the lights and said quietly, "Goodnight, honey." Phantom muttered something softly that he couldn't hear.

Phantom remained to sleep in her bed until January second. She woke up feeling on top of the world. Cerberus was the one to see her first and as soon as she woke up, he jumped her bed and licked all over her face. It took her a minute to sputter out playfully, "Cer, cer, Cerberus… noooo… stop. Okay, okay. I've missed you too." It took another moment of him licking her face until he stopped. That made Phantom realized that her mask was off her face, so she knew, "Stark took off my mask, didn't her, Cerberus?" The wolf nodded his head. She began to stretch out her stiff muscles that were fully relaxed from all the sleep that she got. Phantom went to her shower and Cerberus followed her in it. Phantom scrubbed her body, put on her Noxzema on her face, and then put shampoo into her hair. After she put her shampoo in her hair, she scrubbed down Cerberus with the same shampoo, which he looked like he really enjoyed. After she finished scrubbing, she rinsed off herself and Cerberus. She put on the conditioner to straighten both of their manes. She rinsed both of them off while singing, making jokes with baby talk, and shaking his face. After they both got out, Phantom pulled the water off them, Phantom dress herself in her standard mercenary clothing, and put a mask on her face. She and Cerberus walked to her kitchen to see it fully stocked up with ingredients and food. Phantom pulled out a frying pan, some uncooked chicken, breading seasoning, an egg, buttermilk, vegetable oil, and a mixing bowl. After a moment of cooking, Phantom fried up some fried chicken for the two of them. Phantom gave him one breast, one thigh, and a wing. Phantom ate one breast, thigh, and wing along with an apple, banana, and carrots. Phantom gave Cerberus some of the baby carrots.

After they both finished eating, Phantom and Cerberus went down to the lab and Phantom yelled, "HEY STARK!" Tony poked his head out from something that he was building and asked, "Yeah?" Phantom asked, "You got any jobs for me?" Tony came out from where he was while cleaning oil off of his hands and stated, "When do you wanna start? I have several jobs ready, for whenever you are." Phantom smirked and replied, "Now. Let's do it." And that was how Phantom and Stark's daddy/daughter employer/employee relationship started.

Bathroom Inspiration: pin/AdhvD-mdcNcrqZxXIbCfj3DbXro_pafLG_ncUy-4m2djS2nPRZEdE3Y/

Black shirt: images/search?view=detailV2&ccid=oJQoHQLq&id=8A43E71AE716759148C17DE38734D6C24CDF55C2&thid= 03-AHaHa&mediaurl=http%3a%2f%2fg01. .com%2fkf%2fHTB1UntuIFXXXXawXpXXq6xXFXXXF% &exph=800&expw=800&q=sexy+long+sleeve+shirts&simid=608052880281897531&selectedIndex=30&ajaxhist=0

Red Dress: pin/407083253811081620/

Phantom's Make Up (without the lipstick): pin/563020390901328608/

Phantom's Hair: pin/674203006685772680/

Pepper's Dress: pin/212021094948250434/

Phantom's Earrings: pin/212021094946569058/

Phantom's Necklace: pin/48835977185661400/

Phantom's Bracelet: pin/263742121903468960/

Fury and Maria's Cake: images/search?view=detailV2&ccid=6UpC6NPj&id=DE6E742A2116010706972EC505AD13A3A96757A5&thid=OIP.6UpC6NPjcF7RwaDVQzzKZQHaJt&mediaurl=http%3a%2f% .com%2f736x%2f96%2fa7%2f09% &exph=635&expw=484&q=Tres+Leches+Cake+with+Fruit&simid=608023648821055349&selectedIndex=13&ajaxhist=0

Phantom's Cake: images/search?view=detailV2&ccid=AWLbxzdc&id=6B4A31D2B518DCB138A228E59575740F05AB71BC&thid= 3R1DccF-8cGgHaJ4&mediaurl=https%3a%2f% . %2fbphoto%2fRDt1a3OQxIDzU-QmXjlz5A% &exph=1000&expw=750&q=Tres+Leches+Cake+with+Fruit&simid=608043684853321426&selectedIndex=4&ajaxhist=0

Phantom's Locket: pin/493847915383331719/

Avenger's Portrait: images/search?view=detailV2&ccid=HbaYLHNR&id=A1A7B88EE1E4A28C455CDFF02CE9AE5580171AC5&thid= 2ic3aFZzgHaHb&mediaurl=https%3a%2f% .au%2fwp-content%2fuploads%2f2014%2f02% &exph=711&expw=709&q=avengers+cartoon+portrait&simid=608037457191961956&selectedIndex=52&ajaxhist=0


	6. Winter Soldier Pt 1

As Natasha ran into the computer lab, she saw the one young mercenary who she thought that she wouldn't see hacking into the files before her. "Isn't it a school night?" Natasha questioned getting the mercenary's attention, but who remained vigilant to her work on the computer. "Ehh, Father Stark said I could stay out late," the young girl replied. Natasha took the computer next to her and began to do her hacking while seeing where her ally was at. "Fifteen percent already? You've must have been staking out for us to arrive," Natasha commented. Phantom remained typing and responded, "Stark stated I can't kill, so now I leave that to you guys. It saves me on ammunition, and keeps my hands clean." Natasha nodded at the girl's response and they both continued their work in silence, until a certain Captain came crashing in. Steve punched the assaulter and turned to the two women when Natasha commented, "Oh, this is awkward." Phantom snorted, finished her hacking, unplugged her flash drive, and turned to Steve. "Hey Stranger. Fancy seeing you taking a vacation on a cruise. Wish I could stay and chat, but I got a ride to catch," Phantom stated as she sashayed past him. Steve grabbed her upper arm and questioned, "What are you doing here?" Phantom glanced his way with her usual cocky look, and replied simply, "Job. Got my intel, now I gotta go. See you around." She moved out of his grasp and ran out of the room. He wanted to go after her, but he knew that his assignment came first, so he decided to let her leave and go to see why Natasha was jeopardizing his mission. He walked over to her and asked, "What are you doing?" Natasha turned to him and replied, "Doing what your girlfriend was doing, backing up the hard drive. It's a good habit to get into." Steve asked what she was doing there, until he realized that Natasha was saving S.H.I.E.L.D. intel. Steve didn't understand why she was moving from the mission, so when he tried to remind her what it was, she told him that was his mission, not hers. When they had their little altercation, the assaulter came to his senses and threw a grenade, which exploded and caused them to have to shield themselves in the office.

After the grenade went off, Steve ran out to go find Phantom. He scouted out the ship, fighting anyone who got into his way, until he saw a lone figure holding onto a rope attached to a Stark Issued Hellicarrier, flying out. Phantom sensed that she was spotted, so she glanced off to see Steve running towards her. She yelled into her com to her pilot, "HOLD UP, SUN! I HAVE SOMETHING I NEED TO TAKE CARE OF!" The young male mercenary responded, "Roger that." Phantom turned to Steve who came up to her and asked, "Where are you going?" Phantom cocked her right hip up, and placed her hand on it in a sassy kind of way. Steve took a mental note about how she had changed since they first met, which was two years prior. She grew to be five feet seven inches without heels. Her hair had also grown out to when it was only to her mid back, to where it was now to about her lower back. He took note that her chest and ass grew as her friend Sun Wukong often pointed out whenever he and the mercenary would cross paths. He saw her every now and then whenever he was off work. Whenever he and she were off, she would plan for them to go fun places that have progressed since the 1920's.

The first time they went out was in mid-February. It was Valentine's weekend. She showed him around New York. She spent the daytime on Friday with her friend Peter from Queens. On Friday Night, she took him to Nitehawk Cinemas, where they saw _the Notebook_. Steve got traditional popcorn and a coke while Phantom got some tater tots with a Barq's Root Beer. Steve and Phantom watched the film with them coming in close together, and they ended up snuggling together and Steve ended up crying at the end. Saturday, Phantom took him ice skating, to the SeaGlass Carousel, to the Toys R Us Ferris Wheel, to the Shake Shack for lunch, to a walked around Central Park with Cerberus, who he also took note that was getting bigger, bowling, and to Raclette for dinner. They ordered the New York for two with a bottle of Chateau Simon. Steve ordered the deconstructed crème brulee for dessert while Phantom order the flourless chocolate mousse cake. They both ate their dessert plates off of each other. After their dinner, Phantom took him to go see _Phantom of the Opera_ on Broadway. Phantom wore a sky blue one-shoulder dress with a white flower design on her shoulder and around her waist, while Steve wore a nice tux. On Sunday, they stood at the tower watching many rom-coms, cuddling, and baking sweets. Phantom showed Steve how to make homemade chocolate.

There were other times that Steve and Phantom chose to be together and go on fun adventures. During a two-week period in May, she took all of the Avengers to Disney World and to all of the parks and attractions. Clint refused to go, as did Natasha, Fury, and Maria, so that left Thor, Steve, Tony, Bruce, and Phantom with some guest to go with them. Thor ate so much food and rode all of the rides, only to get sick and complain about how Space Mountain contradicted the nine realms. Tony complained frequently about the mechanics of the rides and over tourism. Bruce remained close to Phantom and Steve, who talked and rode all of the rides together. Tony always stood close and intervened when he felt as if Steve and Phantom were "getting too close and comfy" for his liking. Phantom had to kill Steve and Thor's dreams of meeting the princess of Disney to tell them that they were actors. Phantom also took them to Universal Studios, the Islands of Adventure, and Las Vegas. Phantom and Steve went to private locations, such as Mount Rushmore, Chicago, Little Havana, Nashville, and even as far as LA and San Francisco.

She gave him her new standard cocky look and replied, "I'm about to head back to the tower. I got the information that I needed from this location as I was ordered to. After I get back, I'm gonna take a short nap, take Cerberus on a run, go back to the tower and wait for someone to come back. If he comes back. I wouldn't know since he's been living in Washington for awhile and doesn't visit as often as he should, but I hold out on hope that he'll come back. I'll see you around, Capsicle." She grabbed onto her rope and the aircraft fly into the sky with her holding on and shooting Steve her standard goodbye salute that consisted of her using her forefinger and middle finger doing a circle wave off from her forehead. Steve watched as she climbed up the rope and fly into the dark nighttime sky. Natasha managed to walk up on him and replied, "You always have to watch her leave, don't you?" Steve only smiled at the question, turned around, and went back to his assignment without answering her. Steve hated to admit it, he always did watch Phantom leave. Actually, whenever she did anything, he always watched over her. He grew a great fondness of the girl ever since they met. He could never quite describe what actually drives him towards her, but she was a flame that he always wanted to fly to. He took notice of how her personality has changed over the years. She used to be so stoic and formal, especially when they first met, but after she got adopted by the Starks, her personality became fun, free, sweeter, and he got to see the kindness within her. Steve thought that her kindness is what fully drives him towards her, but it wasn't quite that either. He never understood his feelings about her, nor understand their relationship, but he felt that he needed to.

After Steve felt that all of his hostages were safe, he decided to make a call to the one man who knew about Phantom's actions. After several rings, Steve could tell that the man was in his lab and had him on speakerphone. "What up, Capsicle?" Tony yelled over the speaker, while welding a new weapon that he created. Steve felt his annoyance spike just a tad, so he went right to the point. "Why exactly did you send Phantom to the S.H.I.E.L.D. ship to obtain information while Nat and I were on a hostage recovery assignment?" Tony answered rather quickly, "Phantom said that she knew where to get a bunch of S.H.I.E.L.D. files, and when she wanted to go. I wasn't going to stop her, since she stated that it would be an in and out kind of assignment." Steve's eyebrow twitched a little at the response, so he asked, "Did you know that her life was in danger, again?" Tony stood quiet for a moment until he replied, "I told Phantom I wouldn't interfere with jobs that she wanted to do. Steve, you call me every time she does a job. I do know how dangerous the jobs are, I try to talk her out of it, but at the end of the day, it's fully her decision. I know you want to keep her safe, so do I, but this is her life and decisions. Unless something happens, I'm going to allow her to do what she wants. End of story. Call me when you're back in the city, so Phantom will stop moping and complaining that you're not around anymore." Tony hung up the phone, and Steve only listened to the end tone for moment until he put his phone down. He let out a great sign and gave it some thought. "Phantom really does miss me. I miss her too, but I don't want to see her on dangerous missions anymore. I'll talk to her later about it."

Sun Wukong flew him and Phantom back to New York, where Tony was waiting in the main living room for them to return. Phantom walked in after the helicarrier landed during sunrise while Sun chose to go home outside of New York. She walked over to Tony, handed him the flash drive that she recovered from the assignment that she went on, kissed his cheek, and greeted, "Good morning, Stark. Here's the S.H.I.E.L.D. files that you wanted. I saw Nat and Steve during their mission. They say hi. I'm going to go head to bed, because I am EXHAUSTED! I'll take Cerberus for a walk after I wake up, okay?" Tony nodded his head, they kissed each other's cheek, while Tony stated, "Night. Tolerate you." Phantom walked off while waving and yelled, "I tolerate you too." That was their small way of showing their affection for each other. They both had commitment issues and didn't like the "L" word, so as a compromise, that say that they tolerate each other, rather than like or "love." Phantom rode up the elevator, walked into her floor area, grabbed a banana for her breakfast snack, went to her bedroom, and saw Cerberus in her bed wagging his tail with excitement. Phantom took note about how Cerberus has change ever since she adopted him. He grew to the point where his head was to her shoulders without going on his hind legs. He took up haft of the bed, so when Phantom walked in to see him, she stated, "I really need to get a king size bed. Especially since you might be growing more." Cerberus nodded his head, moved to the right side of the bed for Phantom to go to her spot, and whimpered for her to come to bed. Phantom finished the rest of the banana, threw the peel into the trash, took off her work clothes, slipped on her standard sports bra and running shorts, took off her mask, went into the bed, and Cerberus snuggled in close to her.

After they took a nap until it was one in the afternoon. Phantom put on her mask, just in case someone were to walk in, went out, and saw Steve sitting on her couch watching the news. Phantom walked over to him, put her arms around his neck from his back, and whispered, "Why didn't you come wake me up when you got here?" Steve smiled at her actions, touched her arm, and replied, "You looked like you really wanted the sleep." Phantom smiled at his response, let go, walked to the kitchen, and yelled/asked, "You want anything to eat? I'm going to make my special scrambled eggs for me and chorizo for Cerberus." Steve turned around to see her put her hair up, walking over to her kitchen, when he asked, "Why are you only in a bra? You really should have a shirt on, and those shorts are far too short." Phantom laughed at his comment and replied, "These are my pjs. The sports bra is super comfy and the shorts are super breezy which is nicer to move in when I sleep. Anyway, do you want food?" Steve took off his button up to reveal is tight undershirt, and put the button up on Phantom's shoulders. Phantom smiled at his actions, buttoned up the shirt, and rolled up the sleeves to cook.

Steve and her both washed their hands, and Phantom asked, "So, I'm going to guess that you are going to cook with me. Can you whisk the eggs, while I cook the chorizo the way Cerberus likes it?" Steve nodded, and cook scrambled eggs, while Phantom put rice in the rice cooker, while she cooked the spicy sausage. She put Velveeta cheese, spinach, and just a tad of cabbage. It only took a couple of moments until it was fully cooked. After Phantom finished Cerberus' food, she put it in a food bowl, set it on the ground and told him to wait until it cooled down. Phantom went to her fridge, took out some cube gelatin cubes that Steve didn't know what it was, but when he finished the eggs, she saw that the rice was done. Phantom made two bowls of rice, one for her and one for Steve. After the hot rice was done, Phantom put some of the eggs and the some of the gelatin cubes together and quickly threw it on top of the hot white rice. Steve watched as the gelatin melted, coating the eggs and rice in a strange coat. Phantom told him to wait until the eggs were fully coated, then stir it around with the rice. After they stirred the rice, and ate the scrambled rice and eggs. When Steve took the first bite, he asked, "Is this a chicken stock?" Phantom nodded her head at him and continued to eat, as did he.

While eating, Steve, learning the information that he did earlier decided to ask, "So did you know that Fury's been collecting S.H.I.E.L.D. data, Tony's made new Hellicarriers, and has been building Project Insight?" Phantom knew where this conversation was going so she replied, "Yeah. Tony sends me to Washington every now and then to make sure all of them are up to protocol and to make sure S.H.I.E.L.D. doesn't mess with any of his stuff." Steve wanted to ask how often she goes to Washington, but she beat him to the punch, "I go pretty much once a month. I don't like Project Insight, but it's not my call." Steve nodded at her response and continued to eat. After they ate Phantom asked, "So how long do you exactly plan on staying?" Steve gave her a sad smile and replied, "Pretty much just for this meal. Fury wants me back now." Phantom nodded at him and replied, "Well, we all have jobs that we have to do. I'll see you when I see you, okay?" Steve nodded, gave her a hug, pet Cerberus, who was still licking his food bowl for all of the remaining cheese, and she walked him to her elevator and saw him out. As he left she stated, "See you on the job, Rogers." Steve smiled until she stated that and he replied, "Let's hope that doesn't happen. I'll see you when I come back." Phantom smiled and waved at him as the elevator door shut to close their conversation.

Phantom turned around to see Cerberus checking out her shirt and that's when she realized, "Shit. I still have his shirt. Oh well, I'll just put it with the other ones that I have." Phantom lifted the shirt to her nostrils, pulled her mask down, and took a whiff of the shirt. "Mmmm. Still uses Dawn bar soap, rather than the bath and body works." Phantom lifted her mask, pulled off the shirt, hung it up next to the others in her closet. This shirt made number twelve in her collection. The first being the one he loaned her back when after they met for the Battle of New York, when she needed something to wear. She also had his leather jacket from when they went to watch the Broadway show during Valentines weekend. Phantom wanted to reminisce, but she knew that she needed to get around for the day, so she proceeded to get do her usual routine of her and Cerberus taking a morning shower, changing into clothes meant for however her day was going to go. For today, she dressed herself into athletic clothing, which were Capri black tights, two tight sports bra to keep her boobs in place, and black Nike running shoes. After Phantom changed, she picked out Cerberus tough collar and leash, and put it on him. Phantom went down to Tony office, saw him at his work bench, and stated, "Hey Stark. Cerberus and I are going for a run, if you actually want to join us in outside activity and exercise." Tony just looked at her with questioning in his eyes and asked, "Do you not know me? I don't run outside. I'd rather do my treadmill with the 360 projector." Phantom laughed at him and asked, "Do you want us to grab anything while we're on our run?" Tony stated shawarma and that made both Phantom and Cerberus laugh as the elevator door shut on their conversation.

When Phantom and Cerberus made it to the lobby floor, they passed the front desk, greeted the office lady, and then they took their jog around Central Park. Cerberus and Phantom always ran through Central Park at least twice day whenever she was home. If Phantom had nothing to do during the day, she would walk Cerberus throughout the city or Queens, or she would be within her dance studio or training room. She would dance several dance styles in the dance studio that helped her body joints to become flexible, and her body to relax. The training area was altered to enhance Phantom's reaction, senses, and her abilities of manipulation. People always recognized her whenever she ran through the city. They commonly gave her gifts such as flowers, food, homemade gifts, and various of other things. When the New Yorkers saw her, they knew she was walking Cerberus, her pet dog, and shop owners had dog food and treats ready for both of them. It shocked Phantom that everyone greatly adapted, loved, and cherished Cerberus. He is a giant dog about the size of a bear. Phantom usually allowed children to ride him whenever they asked for permission to pet him. Phantom chose to just walk around New York for the full day since she got off from a job, and Peter was at school.

Around nine o'clock in the night, Phantom made it back home, and her phone went off to see Maria Hill calling her. When she answered, she thought that it was going to be a fun call, so she answered in a singsong type of tone, "Hello, this is Phantom." Maria was straight to the point, "I need you here in DC, now. Not as a favor to S.H.I.E.L.D., but as a favor to Fury and me. You will need to be in full ghost mode. No one will know. Don't tell Stark. Full disclosure." Phantom didn't receive any time to ask questions because Maria hung up and phone on her. She knew that it had to be serious because it was Maria calling rather than Fury, who likes to personally call her. Phantom ran to her closet and threw on her basic mercenary attire, which still consisted of the leather trench coat, turtleneck crop top, black short shorts, and one-inch black leather heel boots. She packed several articles of clothing, just in case she was gone for a while. She went down stairs to grab her scythe, several guns, grenades, darts, throwing knives, and anything else that she might have needed. She went to Tony's lab and grabbed some of the newer inventions that he created for whenever he thought that she might have needed them. They consisted of Iron Boots, shock cuffs, emergency energy pills, and magnetic rings for her scythe. Phantom went to where she knew Tony kept some of her single pilot jets, and took one while leaving him a voice message stating that she had a job that she couldn't tell him about.

Phantom flew the jet to the outskirts of DC in a town called Friendly. She had a car stashed there just in case she had an assignment in Washington DC. It was a 2013 all-black Audi A6. She drove it into the city and had J.A.R.V.I.S. track Maria, Natasha, and Steve. They were all at a hospital, so she drove herself to their location in a matter of moments. She parked her car as quickly as she could, and ran inside to where in hospital they were. When she got to the location, she saw Nick Fury in a surgery table. "What happened," Phantom asked to her colleagues. They all turned to Phantom looking at them with seriousness within her eyes. Maria was the one to report, "Shooter shot three slugs, no rifling. Completely untraceable." Phantom glanced over to Natasha and Steve who gave the rest of the report with Natasha leading, "Soviet-made." Steve stated, "He's fast and strong. Had a metal arm." Phantom's eyes narrowed at Steve and asked quickly and rather desperate, "Did he have darkish dirt around his eyes with longish brown hair? Wore all black with a facemask? Had a giant red star on the bicep of the metal arm?" Steve only nodded his head and he saw Phantom's eyes complete change from their light blue to a dark red color. Phantom was about to ask something to Natasha until the doctors brought out the defibrillator for Fury. Phantom heard Natasha plea for the man not to die, while Phantom stood in silence while clenching a fist. Everyone except for Phantom gave a pleading look of hope, but Phantom already knew, once that man had a target, there was no way said target was going to live.

When they called it, Phantom just went out to the hallway and waited until the medical professionals took Fury's body to its identification room. Steve and Natasha followed the medical team, while Phantom chose to follow them and try not to make stir the pot in any way that she could for the moment. When they all went to the room, Steve and Phantom kept close to the wall, while Natasha watched over the body thinking how could this had happened. Maria came in stating that she needed to take him, so Steve went to go take Natasha away. Phantom watched as Natasha said her goodbye and rushed out. Phantom followed them out, Natasha asked why was Fury was at his apartment, but her question was interrupted by the soldier named Rumlow. He tried to take Steve off to S.H.I.E.L.D., but when Rumlow stated that they wanted him then and there, Phantom got in front of him and threatened, "Sir, you need to step away. We just lost a teammate. Give them a damn moment, before I make you." Rumlow glared down to the girl who kept her challenging look, daring him to do something. Steve saw their altercation, so he interrupted it, "Phantom, it's alright." Phantom held her ground against Rumlow, while listening to Natasha calling Steve a terrible liar. Phantom heard Natasha walk off and Solider Sitwell through Rumlow's earpiece to hear the order to escort Steve back to S.H.I.E.L.D. for questioning. Rumlow stated that he told him that already, but when Rumlow tried to walk closer to Steve, Phantom grabbed him, and warned, "Back. Off." Rumlow got in Phantom's face and asked, "Or what?" Phantom's eye narrowed, she gave him a menacing smirk and replied, "I was hoping you were going to ask." Before Phantom could let out a punch, Steve grabbed her arm, and told her, "It's fine. Just grab a snack and cool yourself off." Phantom internally raised her eyebrow at his comment, until she heard his thoughts, "Get the drive out of the vending machine." Phantom nodded her head, glared at Rumlow once more, and threatened, "You got lucky, Rumlow. Next time, Cap won't be there to save your ass." Phantom walked over to the machine, while Steve moved with the STRIKE team.

Phantom glanced at the machine, until she saw the flash drive hidden behind a stack of gum. She paid three dollars for the gum and the flash drive, looked to see Natasha staring. "Romanov," Phantom greeted the assassin. Phantom pulled Natasha into an empty hospital room, planted a cloaker into the light switch, which sent out a frequency that canceled any microphones or cameras hidden within. "Let's have a chat, shall we?" Phantom requested to Natasha, who only nodded her head, understanding what she wanted to discuss.

After Steve had fled from S.H.I.E.L.D., he made his way to the hospital to see Natasha standing by the vending machine, chewing some of the gum. Steve, angered that she got it before Phantom did, pushed her into what seemed to be an empty room. "Where is it?" Steve asked. Natasha told him that it was safe, and he tried to push it out of her, but she only replied, "Why did Fury give it to you?" Steve asked what was inside and Natasha acted as if she didn't know. Steve asked her about Fury hiring the pirates, but Natasha told him that it was his way in. Natasha changed the subject by telling Steve about the Winter Soldier and her encounter with him. When Steve suggesting find out what the ghost wanted, Phantom, who had been laying in one of the beds with the curtain shut listening in on their convo, pulled the curtain to reveal that she was there. "No Cap," Phantom began as she pulled the curtain. "You can't interrogate, talk, or reason with the Winter Soldier. He is a machine that only focuses on getting his job done. One false move, there goes your life. He shows no emotion, no restraint, no guilt, no mercy. I've been tracking him for over five years, and I've had some encounters with him. Each time, we've walked out with many injuries, chunks of body missing, with no intel gained on either side. If you want to get answers, I'm game. I want him for questioning more than anybody else in this world. I know how he thinks, how he responds, and how he moves. I can track him faster than anyone else in the world, and Natasha can verify that. You need me." Steve was about to object to her, until she raised her hand to stop him, "Don't. I'm going after him, whether you like it or not. He has answers that I need. Plus I've got a score to settle." Phantom walked past him with the flash drive in her hand, making Steve and Natasha follow her.

Phantom drove them all out to a ma and pa owner type of shop. She bought a blush pink shirt for her, a pink bra with a pair of sassy sunglasses, along with a pair skinny jeans and a pair of white high tops. She bought Natasha a gray with navy stripes hoodie, Steve a brown hoodie with a pair of non-subscription glasses, and both of them black high-tops. Phantom came back to see that Natasha had already switch her license plate with another car similar to hers. Phantom gave them their outfits, as she changed in the middle of the parking lot. Since it was a ma and pa type of shop, they didn't have cameras in the parking lot, and the nearest traffic stop camera was two blocks away. Phantom took off her shirt to reveal her sports bras. Phantom proceeded to take off her bras, but Steve interrupted her by yelling, "HEY, HEY, HEY! WHY ARE YOU UNDRESSING YOURSELF?! MAINTAIN SOME DECENCY!" Phantom just gave him her old stoic look within her eyes, and she responded with no emotion, "Rogers. We don't have time for common decency. I'll cover my breast when I put on bra, but I can't wear a sports bra with the top that I got." Phantom lifted the sports bra with one hand, while covering her chest with the other. She grabbed the pink lace bra put it over her breast that she was covering. She latched the bra herself and put the lacey shirt on. Phantom took off her tight short shorts to veal her wearing a pair of black lacey bikini panties. Natasha whistled at the girl's underwear, but Phantom kept her stoic expression and chose not to say anything, which worried Natasha and Steve. Phantom put her on her skin tight jeans, and her white high-tops. Phantom went to the driver's seat, and instructed, "You both need to put your disguises now. Romanov, I'm gonna drop you off at the front mall entrance. Rogers, you and I are going to go in together at the back mall entrance closer to the Apple Store. Romanov, you need to keep your distance, but meet near us in Apple Store fifteen minutes after I drop you off." Steve wanted to interject, but Phantom shot him a look that demanded not to challenge her. Natasha put on her disguise and it took a moment, but so did he.

Phantom dropped Natasha off and found a parking spot near the back spot of the mall entrance. Phantom put on her sunglasses and took off her mask, which shocked Steve. Phantom explained, "The mask will be a dead giveaway that it's me. The sunglasses is my clutch and my own personal way to hide my identity. Let's go." Phantom stepped out of the car first, and then Steve came out. Steve tried to rush into the building, so Phantom grabbed him, pulled him close to her, latched onto his arm, and whispered to him, "First rule of being on the run is not to actually run. When you run, people tend to notice more cause that shows something big and action related." Steve touched her hand gently with his free hand and nodded as they walked into the mall. "If I run in these shoes, they're gonna fall off." Phantom giggled at his comment as they continued to walk.

They went into the Apple Store, and as soon as they did, Phantom scoped the area and saw Natasha looking at Iphones. Phantom and Steve went over to the Macbooks and Steve asked, "How much time do we have?" Phantom responded while plugging in the flash drive, "About nine minutes. That ship clearly has secrets to hide. This drive is protected by an AI, it keeps rewriting itself to counter my commands." Steve looked worried as he saw her typing so quickly that he couldn't make out the code, "Can you override?" Phantom scoffed at him and proclaimed, "I've overrode J.A.R.V.I.S. so much at the tower. This is child's play. I'm placing a tracer, because S.H.I.E.L.D. developed to track hostile malware, so since I can't read the file in time, I'll be able to find the creator's location." One of the Apple Employees came up to Phantom and Steve asking as if they needed some help. Phantom, knowing how to play a cute guy and girl act played, "Oh no, we're fine, thank you. My fiancé and I are just looking for honeymoon spots, right honey?" Steve understanding the ploy, pulled Phantom in from her waist, kissed her cheek, and proclaimed, "Right! We're getting married." The employee, trying to be a great worker, asked, "Congratulations. Where do you guys thinking about going?" Steve noticed where the pin point was on the computer, so he replied, "New Jersey." Phantom went back to her incredibly fast typing as the worker kept his conversation with Steve going, "Oh. I have the exact same glasses." Phantom looked back and forth between the two while typing, "Wow, you two are practically twins." Phantom saw Natasha trying not to laugh at her comment. The employee comminuted, "Yeah, I wish. Specimen. Ugh… if you guys need anything, I've been Aaron." Steve looked at his watch and saw it coming close on time and Phantom finished it off just as he did, took out the flash drive, and pulled him out with Natasha followed behind. "The place is called Wheaton, NJ. Do you know it?" Phantom whispered to Steve while holding on to his arm while they walked. Steve recognized the name, looked around, and replied, "I used to. Standard tac-team. Two behind, two across, two coming straight at us. If they make us, I'll hit the south escalator to the metro." Phantom let go of his arm, pushed herself close to Steve's side and ordered, "Put your arm around me, laugh, and act all lovey dovey with me." Steve looked at her questioningly, but her eyes scream, "Just do it!" Steve put his arm around her shoulder and laughed, as she giggled and bopped his chin a little in a cutesy type of way. Phantom saw that all of the agents still hadn't spot them, but she knew it was only a matter of time.

Steve and Phantom got onto the escalator, while Natasha following behind. "Romanov, cell phone disguise," Phantom ordered quietly, so that only Natasha and Steve could hear her. Natasha took out her phone, and acted as if she was looking up stuff on it. Phantom spotted Rumlow going up as all three of them were going down, and knew how exactly to make him not look at them. Phantom positioned herself in front of Steve, and whispered, "Kiss me." Steve was completely thrown off by her request so she explained, "Public displays of affection make people very uncomfortable." Steve agreed with her, "Yes, they do." Phantom feeling that it was now or never push herself up to Steve's lips, pulled him down to her, and kissed him. Steve was stiff at first, and was about to ease himself into it, until Phantom felt Rumlow glancing at them, so she sent a psychic message to only his head, "Steve, I'm going to need you to get touchy and relax." Steve's eye shot up, but Phantom used his confusion to lead his hands to her ass. She wrapped her arms around him, licked his lips with her tongue, and when she felt him gasp, she sent her tongue into a dance with his own. Steve never felt this type of situation with anyone else who he has ever encountered, but it excited him. She tasted like salt-water taffy and the taste intoxicated him, so he held her from her ass, which he had to say, was thick and firm. Phantom tightened her grip around his neck as she felt him getting into it. To her, he tasted like cherries, which she knew was his favorite. Rumlow felt very uncomfortable by glancing at the "couple" who were getting a moment in, so he decided to look in another direction. They both kept their tongues with a battle of dominance, until they reached the bottom of the escalator and Natasha had to give a slight cough to make them stop. Phantom and Steve broke apart and needed to take a couple of breaths. Phantom pulled Steve's arm around her waist to pull her in close, and the walked out together. While they walked, Natasha decided to ask quietly to the couple that she was following, "Was that uncomfortable for you both?" Steve pulled Phantom in closer to him and replied, "Not the exact word I would use." Phantom nodded her head to agree with his statement. When all of them went into her car, Natasha decided to drive the car. As she drove, Phantom put on a clean facemask, and proceeded to change back into her battle clothes. She took them to a camera-less car lot, and Steve picked out a giant blue truck to take to New Jersey. Phantom placed all of her items into the back seat with her. Phantom left the car unlocked with the keys in the visor for the car company to have. She took off the car license and placed it onto the truck. Phantom went into the back seat, put her headphones into her ears, and chose to sleep until they reached the destination in New Jersey.

While driving, Natasha chose to have a conversation with Steve while Phantom slept in the back with her headphones on. "Where did Captain America learn how to steal a car?" Steve smiled at her small jab and replied, "Nazi Germany. And we're borrowing. Take your feet off the dash." Natasha followed his order and stated, "Alright, I have a question for you, oh, which you do not have to answer. I feel like if you don't answering it, you know?" Steve raised his eyebrow and asked, "What?" Natasha motioned over to Phantoms sleeping form, and asked, "Was that your first kiss since 1945?" Steve blushed a little and asked, "That noticeable, huh?" Natasha smirked and stated, "I didn't say that." Steve argued, "Well, it kind of sounds like that's what you're saying." Natasha just kept the teasing going and replied, "Well, I wanted to know if you had any practice." Steve tried to argue that nobody needs practice, but Natasha countered that everybody needed practice. Steve tried to say that it wasn't his first kiss since 1945 and Natasha asked, "She not special, though?" Steve glanced at Phantom through the visor and chose to say, "Believe it or not, it's kind of hard to find someone with shared life experience." Natasha tried to tell him that he could make something up, but Steve felt that it was a shot at Phantom, so he countered that it was what Natasha was like. Natasha replied, "I don't know. The truth is a matter of circumstances, it's not all things to all people all the time. And neither am I." Phantom stirred a little in her sleep, which made Steve replied, "That's a tough way to live." Natasha replied that it was a good way not to die. Steve stated, "You know, it's kind of hard to trust someone when you don't know who that someone really is." Phantom relaxed from all of the stirring and got herself comfy, as Natasha asked, "Yeah. Who do you want me to be?" Steve smiled at Phantom's sleeping form and replied, "How about a friend?" Natasha smiled at Steve's request and replied, "Well, there's a chance you might be in the wrong business, Rogers." He glanced at Phantom once again and replied, "I wish I'm not."

It took driving a little more, until Steve drove them to the abandon military base. When he parked the car, Steve reach behind, touched Phantom soft thigh, and shook her awake. She moaned slightly, until she fully woke up, hopped out of the car, and stretched her stiff body. Phantom grabbed her scythe from the trunk of the truck and walked with Steve and Natasha while pointing out the exact coordinates to them. "The file came from these coordinates," Phantom stated to the other two Avengers. "So did I," Steve stated to the two women. Phantom kept her gaze forward while Natasha asked, "Changed much?" Steve looked around, had brief visions of his former, smaller self, running past him as he's getting trained with the other soldiers, and replied, "A little." Natasha tried to explain that the place was just a router and they went to wrong place, until Steve noticed something off. Phantom realized his confusion, so she asked stoically, "What is it?" Steve walked forward to a lone building and stated, "Army regulations forbid storing ammunition within five hundred yards of the barracks. This building is in the wrong place." Phantom sliced the lock on the door, causing the door to open to reveal a S.H.I.E.L.D. office. Everyone walked into a room that had Peggy Carter, Howard Stark, and Col Chester Phillips portraits up. "There is Grandfather Stark," Phantom stated while looking at the portrait with no emotion. Steve whispered Howard's first name. Natasha asked who Peggy was, but Steve just ignored her and looked at a massive bookshelf. "If you're already working in a secret office," Steve began as he pulled the bookshelf to slide open to reveal an elevator behind it. "Why do you need to hide the elevator?" All three of them went down the elevator to a room full of old-school computers. The computer turned on and asked, "Initiate system?" Phantom walked forward and typed, "Y-E-S." Natasha commented, "Shall we play a game?" She turned to Steve and stated, "It's from a movie that…" Steve interrupted her, "Yeah, I saw it."

The computer came to life and stated with a thick German Accent, "Rogers, Steven. Born 1918. Romanoff, Natalia Alianovna. Born 1984. Phantom Carmen Potts-Stark. Birth unknown. Discovered 2009." Natasha stated, "It's some type of recording." The computer replied, "I am not a recording, Fraulein. I may not be the man I was when the Captain took me prisoner in 1945, but I am…" Then it showed an old picture of Dr. Arnim Zola. Natasha turned to Steve and asked, "Do you know this thing?" Steve made his report about what he knew about Arnim Zola. The computer made his statement, "First correction, I am Swiss. Second, look around you. I have never been more alive. In 1972, I received a terminal diagnosis. Science could not save my body. My mind, however, that was worth saving on two hundred thousand feet of data banks. You are standing in my brain." Phantom narrowed her eyes at him, and Steve asked, "How did you get here?" The computer told them that it was invited and Natasha explained, "It was Operation Paperclip after World War II. S.H.I.E.L.D. recruited German scientists with strategic value." The computer added on, "They thought I could help their cause. I also helped my own." Steve tried to interject his statement, "HYDRA died with the Red Skull." Phantom began her peace, "No they didn't. HYDRA has been around even after World War II. They are still around now. Like the mythology. Cut one head off, two more shall take its place." Steve looked at the computer and asked for it to prove it.

Zola told the story of HYDRA, until Zola talked about the missile. Phantom knew that the information that she wanted would have been lost, so she yelled, "Rogers, grab Romanov and take cover in the ground tiles. You got thirty seconds." Phantom grabbed both sides of the computer, her eyes turned a glowing white, and electricity went into the computer. She heard Zola tried to tell her to stop, but it kept stuttering, stopping, and starting in its speech. Phantom looked into all of the files until she screamed, "I NEED THE DETAILS FOR "ASSIGNMENT CLEARWATER!"" The file popped up and she began to read it and look at the pictures with her mind. While she was doing that, Steve kept yelling, "PHANTOM, YOU NEED TO GET DOWN!" Phantom kept yelling him, "No," or "IN A SECOND!" Every second that this kept happening, both of the Avengers' voices raised in volume and in speech pattern. As soon as Phantom found her file and tried to rapidly read it, Steve threw his shield at Phantom to knock her away. The shield returned to Steve, who crouched down while protecting Natasha while Phantom formed a sphere of stone around her form. The missile struck and caused Phantom to fly back and have rubble fall on top of Natasha and Steve. Phantom's sphere broke after it landed on the ground, causing Phantom to roll against the ground.

It scraped Phantom up a bit, and when Steve and Natasha got out of the rubble, they saw her punching the ground. Natasha grabbed her scythe, while Steve walked up to Phantom who was yelling and grunting as she punched the ground. "Dam. Mit. I. Al. Most. Had. It. Why. Does. This. Keep. Hap. Pen. Ning. To. Me!" The last punch caused the ground to create a crater. Steve put his hand on her shoulder, and when she slapped it away, he saw that her knuckles all bloodied up. Steve grabbed her wrist, pulled her up, causing her to be off the ground, and held her as she screamed while hitting, kicking, and clawing him, "DAMMIT STEVE! LET FUCKING GO OF ME! I DON'T FUCKING NEED THIS BULLSHIT! LET ME THE FUCK GO! LET ME GO!" He held on until she calmed down, and she put her head on his shoulder and she whispered with hurt, "I almost had it, Steve. Why did you stop me? Why did you take that away from me? Why can't you just leave me be?" Steve hushed her, telling her that she was okay, and he felt her shaking from all her emotions. Steve held her, carrier her to the truck, put her into the back seat, and let her mope. She grabbed her StarkPhone and put on her music to allow her to think about what just happened. Natasha entered the passenger seat, and Steve went onto the driver's seat. Natasha chose not to say anything, and Steve drove off.

Phantom's Broadway Gown: pin/329959110181509332/

Phantom's Mall outfit: pin/544372673691094282/

Phantom's Bra: pin/833447474764446045/


	7. Winter Soldier Pt 2

Steve drove Natasha and Phantom to the one place where he thought that they would be safe and no one would find them. The whole car ride, Steve looked at the visor to check up on Phantom who he saw was just shaking her right leg profoundly. Her eyes kept their anger and hurt within them, but she wouldn't show the emotions any other way. Eventually, she grew tired of Steve checking up on her, so she stated with an angered short fuse, "Keep your eyes on the road, Rogers. I'll be fine, but if you keep looking back here, you'll get us into a car accident." Steve didn't say anything back to her and just chose to drive in silence for the remainder and not look back at Phantom of the car ride. Steve parked the car in front of Sam Wilson's house and waited until Sam came back from his morning run. It took about twenty minutes for Sam to return to his home. Steve instructed for Natasha and Phantom to grab their things and come with him to the door with him. Phantom was the first out, she slammed the back door, went to the trunk, grabbed her equipment and duffle bag, slammed the trunk door, walked to the gate, and waited for them. Her face kept its stoic expression, but her eyes screamed their emotions. They held the same anger, frustration, and guilt that they held throughout the entire car ride. Steve and Natasha grabbed their things, and walked up first while Phantom remained by the gate. Steve signed at Phantom's actions, but he knew that she needed some space for the moment, so he knocked on the door to reveal a confused Sam Wilson. Sam was confused that the fact that Captain America, Black Widow, and Phantom of the Avengers were standing at his door, but he chose to just be polite and greet them, "Hey, man." Steve gave him a sorry look and replied, "Sorry about this. We need a place to lay low." Natasha decided to add in the discussion, "Everyone we know is trying to kill us." Sam smiled at him and lets them in while stating, "Not everyone."

Phantom was the last one to enter and when she passed by Sam, she accidently bumped into him, which is when a small scene went play out within his mind. He saw a man in all black, shoulder-length brown hair, black soot around his eyes, with a giant metal left arm with a red star on the upper bicep. He saw the man shoot at Sam profoundly, but Sam's body moved on its own to dodge his bullets. After a moment, Sam sliced the man's chest on the left pec, like he was slicing his heart. The man reached forward, grabbed Sam's neck, and stated, "You're done, Phantom." Sam saw through the man's eyes and saw Phantom's masked face through his eyes. She held a look of intense hatred for the man before her. Sam's body had a gun within his left hand, and he shot into the mysterious man's side. The bullet went through the man and hit an upcoming assassin approaching them. The mysterious man let go of Sam's neck, Sam kicked the man back, swung a scythe, which caused the mysterious man to jump back. Sam shot at the man over and over again. The man dodged all of the bullets, but then when he shot back, Sam dodged and was struck with something against the side of his head near his temple, which knocked him out. Sam came back to reality only have Phantom looking at him with sympathy within her eyes. "I apologize for your lady love back at California. She seemed very nice. It's also very nice to see you again."

Sam nodded at her and responded, "It's good to see you outside Bakhmala." Phantom kept walking to where the spare bedroom was. Phantom dropped her duffle bag on the bag, where Steve was just laying down. She pulled out her athletic tape, dropped her trench coat, took off her turtleneck crop top, and went out to the backyard. Phantom took off her shoes and socks, and wrapped up her fist and feet. As soon as she finished, Phantom went into a stance that had her hands up like a boxer, and feet stance like a martial artist. She started to bounce up and down, and as soon as she felt the groove, she instantly began to attack the tree with barrages of punches and kicks. She kept at impeccable pace, even when the punches and kicks cut through her tape and her body, scraping up her fist, ankles, and feet. When she thought of almost having the file, she began to go even faster and harder than she did before. It was only a matter of time until the tree couldn't take much more of Phantom's hits, until eventually right fist went through the tree. A vision of the Winter Solider went through her mind, so she retracted her fist, then went for mawashi kick to cut the tree in haft. Phantom picked up the cut tree and chopped her the tree to give Sam some lumber. Phantom went over to the stump, poured some water onto the stump, and used her abilities to have the tree absorb the water. A small little tree limb grew from the stump, and that was when Phantom stopped. She made a small support stand for them little limb and went inside.

Phantom proceeded to take of her bandages on her hands as she walked into the guest bedroom to go into the shower. Steve was coming out as she was heading into the bathroom, and that was when Steve grabbed Phantom's arm to stop her. She glanced up to him and he could see the anger within her eyes. Steve nodded to Natasha to have her leave the room, so Natasha got up and left the room while shutting the door behind her to give Steve and Phantom some time. Steve pulled her away from the bathroom doorway and into the bedroom. Phantom dropped her stuff onto a chair, she crossed her arms, shifted her body weight to one leg, and looked at him with her stoic expression. Steve asked, "Why are you mad?" Phantom narrowed her eyes at him and replied, "I'm just upset that I had the file within my grasp, but it managed to escape once again. That was the only physical file that I found, and any other information was always through vocal interactions. So to have taken away from me as I was reading to find out… it's pretty frustrating." Steve pulled her into a hug, and she tried to pull, stating, "No, Rogers… I need space, not comfort." Steve held on and asked, "What is the information that you need and why is it so important for you? Why do you need the Winter Solider?" Phantom tried to pull away and responded, "Rogers, you don't need to know that. Even if you did, you can't do anything about it." Steve held on to her tighter and closer to him. Phantom began to hit chest rapidly, but still soft to show him that she didn't want him to hold her, but he just rubbed her back to show her his support. Steve promised, "Phantom, I will help you find any information that you want. I will help you in whatever means necessary to make you able to move on from whatever distances yourself from everyone. I promise, but you need to let me in." Phantom's fist attacks slowed down rapidly, and she gripped onto his shirt. After a moment of complete silence between the two, Phantom looked up to Steve and he saw fear within her eyes, so she asked suspiciously, "You promise?" Steve gave her a gentle smile, rubbed her back softly, and replied, "I promise."

Phantom put her face within his shirt and she stated, "You can't tell Tony, okay? He knows part of the story, but not everything. My family was targeted by HYDRA when I was a child. I don't fully understand why, but that's what I wanted to find out. They sent the Winter Soldier to wipe out my family, but… instead of killing us all off as quickly as he could for himself; he did something else… something worse. My older brother, Zacharius, was… different from my family and me. Years before the Winter Soldier, my brother was happy, vibrant and excelled in school and sports. As time passed, he quit sports, his grades declined, he kept getting in trouble at school, he stopped coming home and snuck out, and he was a heavy drinker and drug user. At the time, I didn't fully understand nor notice that it was all a cry for help. Whenever I tried to speak to him, he just pushed me, hit me, yelled at me, or just ignore me. My parents, may they rest in peace, showered me with attention instead of him. My mother was my personal teacher in the fine arts, such as ballet, vocal, violin, piano, dance, and various other instruments that she loved to dabble in. My father was my teacher for my abilities, which were very limited compared to how they are now. My parents tried to bring him to do things with them, but whenever my parents tried to parent or intervene, he lashed out on them. This pattern continued for while, until the Winter Soldier came into our lives. I didn't notice because of my various activities and private scholastic tutoring, but he grew even more hateful and distaste towards us. It got to the point until one day… I came home from a soccer game and when my carpool ride arrived to my house, we heard gunshots coming from the house. I ran inside to see my brother shooting my mother, who was in a pool of her own blood while pleading for her own life. My father told me to run, but when my brother tried to shoot him next, I tackled him and we fought for the gun, and when I got it first, I whipped the gun to knock him out. I went to my parents who were bleeding out. My mother died while pleading to me not to hate and blame my brother. My father died within my arms and when my brother came around, he yelled at me with such distain, and… then I snapped. My mind with blank, and when I came back my body and hands were drench in blood. I was on top of my brother, there were bullet wounds and stab holes in him, with me holding a knife made of blood. I felt my heart shatter, and then my powers sprouted out. Spikes made of ice and stone formed, the rain poured down as hard and fast as bullets, and the earth was shaking. After the surge, I was shivering and I looked outside to see a lone dark figure, and it was the Winter Soldier. In a flash, he was gone." She paused for a moment before she continued, "The day after, my grandfather died of heartache and no one else wanted to take me in. So, I was recruited by a mercenary guild, who gave me information and away to take down the Winter Soldier, and I made my vow to hunt him down. I want to know why he did what he did, who made the order and why. I won't stop until I get my information and my revenge for my dead family. I almost had the information of those who made the order for him, but now that file is gone, so now I have to torture and get the information from the Winter Soldier myself."

Steve held Phantom as she told her story, and when he heard her talk about her family dying, he held her tighter as her voice broke. She held onto him tighter as she continued to talk about her family. Steve looked down to her face to see true sadness within his eyes and he got to see her without her walls. When she paused to take a breath, she let go of him while he held on, and continued while going back to her stoic and angered yet determined expression. "Phantom…" Phantom paused him and replied, "Don't. When it's just me and you, you may call me "Victoria." Also, I'm done talking about this. I need a shower." Steve didn't let her go, and he requested, "Victoria, wow that's new and weird. I know you want to take, torture, and kill the Winter Soldier, but I need a couple a minutes to ask my own questions. I want to see if I can change him and try to get him to come willingly." Phantom narrowed her eyes at him and replied, "No." Steve pulled himself away from her and pled while begging straight into her eyes, "Please. Everyone deserves a chance to change. You got one, why shouldn't he?" Phantom narrowed her eyes even more and stated, "I never killed children nor destroyed any families that didn't deserve it." Steve gives her a look with puppy dog eyes, and requested once more, "Victoria, please. Five minutes, then I'm done." Phantom felt her will break a little due to the man, so she bargained, "You get three, then I get to my way. Deal?" Steve smiled at her and agreed. She smiled at him, pulled away from him, grabbed her items from the chair, and was about to go into the bathroom until Steve pulled her into another hug, kissed her forehead, while stating, "I'm so happy that you told me your story. I know that it was hard for you, but I'm glad you opened up to me." Phantom blushed a little and replied while walking away, "Remember Steve, you're the only one to know. Also, don't tell Tony that I called him by his first name. I want him that think that he needs to earn that right." Steve smiled at her, and asked, "Does that go with your and my first names?" Phantom laughed and stated while shutting the bathroom door, "Yes."

She undressed herself, went into the shower, and proceeded to heal all of her wounds. After showering, Phantom grabbed the pj's she packed and brought in with her. She unfolded the article of clothing and saw that is was one of Steve's workout shirts that she washed. She put on a comfortable sports bra without wiring, a pair of her black lace panties, and Steve's shirt. She took all of the water out of her hair. She went out of the bathroom to see Steve was gone from the room and so was Natasha. Phantom put on her face mask and walked out to see everyone in the dining room talking about the secrets within S.H.I.E.L.D. with Natasha, Steve, and Sam talking about where to get Sam's suit. As soon as Phantom heard where it was stationed, she stated, "I'll make a call. I got mercenaries who I know who are stationed around there." Phantom grabbed her phone that was on the counter, made the call to an old colleague, and told them that she would give $500,000 to them when the suit was delivered in an hour. After Phantom's call, she saw all three of the people staring at her with disbelief, so she replied, "I may not work as much as I used to, but I still got the connections that I need. I'm gonna go change. You all need to be ready within thirty minutes." Phantom turned around and began to walk up the stairs as she heard Natasha say, "I like the shirt, by the way. A little big though, don't you think?" Phantom flipped Natasha off as she went up the stairs. Phantom put on her normal mercenary attire and met the others downstairs. As she was beginning to walk to them, the doorbell rang, and she answered the door. She saw a dorito shaped, muscular man who looked to be within his thirties with dazzling blue eyes and pitch black hair. He wore a black ninja suit with tints of azure blue within the stitching. "Canglong," Phantom greeted to the stranger with a large box. "Phantom," the man with a deep voice replied. "You still on season? I though Zhu Que is supposed to be the one working." The man just handed her the large box and replied, "It's still Spring." Phantom nodded her head, and handed the man a flash drive. He nodded at her, turned, and walked away as she shut the door. She handed the heavy box to Sam and stated, "Here." Natasha raised her eyebrow at the interaction she just witnessed and questioned, "Canglong and Zhu Que? As in Canglong and Zhu Que of Four Celestial Beasts?" Phantom nodded her head and replied, "I've known them for years. Bai Hu was the one to train me." Phantom grabbed her scythe and a sniper rifle and stated, "Let's go get some answers."

Phantom stationed herself across the building that Steve wanted and told her not to shoot unless it was an emergency, so that was what she did. Phantom waited until she saw Sitwell on his phone, and then she made her mark known with the red target pointing at his tie. When she saw him go into the grey car, she ran down to the lobby, hotwire a motorcycle, and drove after Sam's car. Phantom met with Steve and Natasha upstairs off the roof when Natasha kicked him off, "Awwww. I wanted to do that," Phantom exclaimed as she walked up. She heard Natasha trying to set Steve up with a girl with a piercing and while Steve explained he wasn't ready for that, Phantom stated, "Really, Nat? Rogers with a girl with a piercing. Might as well set him up with a hooker, cause that ain't happening." After Steve's interrorgation, Phantom met them downstairs. They went into Sam's car, while Phantom chose the motorcycle. "Easy distraction or getaway," Phantom stated as her answer for driving it. Phantom kept close to them as much as possible, while Sam drove. While paying attention, Phantom saw the Winter Soldier jump from a highway cross above them, onto Sam's car. She proceeded to shoot at him, as he pulled out Sitwell from the car and into traffic. When Phantom saw the Winter Soldier lurch off of Sam's stopped car, she jumped off the motorcycle towards the Winter Soldier, who just jumped out of the way. The car behind ran straight into Sam's car as the Soldier jumped up and held onto Sam's room. Phantom stopped a small car, pulled the poor civilian out while stating that she would buy him a new one, and drove off toward's her endangered Avengers. Phantom saw the car flip out with her Avenger's flying out on the car door.

Phantom drove out to the exit to head towards the others. As she quickly parked, she grabbed her scythe and proceeded after the Soldier who was following Natasha. It didn't take her long to catch up, but when she did, she saw that he was going to shoot a police car, so she ran up on him sliced the barrel of the missile launcher in haft and went into hand to hand combat with the Soldier. Phantom got to his back, wrapped her scythe handle around him and held on for dear life and he rolled around to knock her off. When he finally got her off, Natasha snuck up and proceeded her own fight with the Soldier. Phantom ran after the Soldier who shot Natasha in her shoulder, but when she saw Steve, she knew that she had to prioritize to help Natasha. Phantom ran to Natasha's aide, poured water on her wound, and healed her as quickly as she could. She knew that Steve would only last for so long against the Soldier so she knew that she had to worry. When she came out, she saw the Soldier's mask off, and that Steve was hesitating. She saw the Soldier raise his gun, but she knew that she could make it to Steve and not the Soldier, so she ran, and threw Steve away as the bullet pierced her near her heart. Phantom threw a grenade under the car, which went off with the Soldier disappearing in the smoke. Phantom held onto her chest to create pressure, while the S.H.I.E.L.D. team surrounded them yelling at them to hold their hands up. Phantom knew that she couldn't, so she waited until the team approached her, and pulled her up. Rumlow saw that she was going to die without any treatment, so he told the team to just leave her to die. The group left Phantom who remained lying on the ground, until she saw a haft full bottle of Aquafina on the ground, so she used her abilities to pull it towards her. She opened it up poured the water on her wound and proceeded to heal herself once again.

Once Phantom got up, she forgot that she didn't fully heal Natasha's wound and that if she moved too much the damn thing would reopen. She knew that she needed to get to the S.H.I.E.L.D. Headquarters without being spotted by Rumlow's team or just appear so random, so she made a call. The phone rang once, until she heard, "WHERE HAVE YOU'VE BEEN YOUNG LADY?! I HAVE BEEN WORRIED SICK AND I JUST HEARD FROM JARVIS THAT YOU RECEIVED A WOUND CLOSE TO YOUR HEART! ARE YOU ALRIGHT?!" Phantom took the phone away from her ear to get some of the hearing back, but she replied, "Stark, I'm fine. I fixed the wound, I'm okay. I need you to call S.H.I.E.L.D. and tell them that you're sending me in for a surprise inspection and make it sound like you had it planned." Tony was about to ask questions until she stated, "Please, Tony. This is important. After that call, get you and Pepper into the Advance Saferoom I installed in the basement" Tony was astonished that she called him by his first name, and he told her that he would. He called S.H.I.E.L.D. labs, who tried to play it like he couldn't do it today, but he threatened to shut down the entire unit, which he bullshitted about, unless they were checked that day. Tony grabbed Pepper and proceeded to do as Phantom requested. Phantom drove into the facility without any interruptions and began to do a fake inspection, while setting the blasters wiring to overheat, causing them to explode after a certain amount of shots. She proceeded to do it all of the Helicarriers, until she was stopped at the second to last one by hearing Steve's voice coming off from the speakers. "Oh my god. Thank you. I swear, when I see that man, I'm going to give him the biggest kiss of his life." She finished the wiring, and went out of the Helicarrier to see HYDRA agents coming towards all of the Helicarriers. Phantom snuck her way out, and snuck through the vents to try to get to the control room. When she heard shooting coming from that area, she knew that they were already launched. "Dammit," she thought to herself while crawling back to stop that last Helicarrier.

She managed to sneak on the last one, and went to work slicing down HYDRA agents as she went. "Sorry, Tony. I know I promised, but I think this is worth it." She saw that the guns were shooting at Sam as he flew through the sky. Phantom yelled into her comm, while slicing, "JARVIS, get me on Cap's communication system now." JARVIS patched her through, "STEVE!" Steve heard her and yelled, "PHANTOM, ARE YOU ALRIGHT?! WHERE ARE YOU?!" Phantom sliced her way through, while stating, "On the last Helicarrier of your triangle." Phantom went to work on the last of the HYDRA agents when she saw the Winter Soldier land his plane. She to the Advance control room to see Steve and the Soldier fight it out. "CAP! DO YOU HAVE THE DISABLIZING AGENT?!" Phantom yelled over the railing. She saw Steve choking out the Soldier to make him drop the disk. Phantom saw Steve run up to her and when he was shot, he tossed her the disk, and she ran to put it in the slot. Phantom put it in and it shut down the system.

While Steve climbed up to get to her, Phantom picked up her scythe and jumped down to fight the Soldier once again. The Soldier shot passed her once more to shoot Steve in his back. When she saw that it hit, she had to make a decision, whether to save Steve or go after the Soldier. She ran towards Steve and proceeded to heal him using her own blood to do it. She healed up most of him, and then all of the cannons began to shoot at each other and the cannons imploded on themselves. Phantom healed the outside of Steve's body, so that he wouldn't bleed out. Phantom tried to pull Steve away, but he proceeded to help the Winter Soldier. Steve pushed her away when she tried to pull him away and he yelled at her, "YOU PROMISED FIVE MINUTES!" Phantom pulled herself away. She wanted to intervene when the Winter Soldier wailed on him, but Steve yelled at her not to interfere. A piece of the building went collapsing down, causing Steve to fall and Phantom and The Winter Soldier jumped after him, but the Soldier got him first. Phantom searched for Steve until she saw him on the shoreline, so she swam towards him and saw his unconscious form. When began to shake him and yell, "STEVE, NO, NO, NO! YOU'RE NOT LEAVING ME TOO!" Phantom then used the lake water to close up all the serious wounds on his body to only heal them to the point where he would live. After that, she felt her powers were all used up. She wanted to go after the Soldier, but her body wouldn't allow her, so she fainted on Steve. Phantom woke up in an ambulance car, and yelled at them to stop. When they did, she jumped out, hotwired a motorcycle, yelled, "JARVIS, GIVE ME THE LOCATIONS OF TRACKER NUMBER 787453!" JARVIS communicated the coordinates to her and she drove at top speed to go find who she put the tracker on. She placed it into a bullet that landed on a certain target's leg when she shot him. Her only target, the Winter Soldier.

Steve woke up in the hospital with Sam at his side, "On your left." Sam smiled at him, and when Steve saw that someone wasn't around, he asked, "Sam… where's… Phantom?" Sam leaned forward turned off the music that he was playing and responded, "Steve, she went after him. She left a message through the comms for one of us to give to you when you woke up. I don't have it, but Fury does, so you're gonna have to ask him for it." Steve nodded his head, because he knew. Phantom would never stop until she got her hands on Bucky. Steve healed up quickly and when he was discharged from the hospital, he got an earful from Tony, who went to see him in person. Tony didn't look happy at all, and he went up to Steve and stated, "This is all your fault. She's not receiving my calls again. She took out her locator. She won't even use any of the money I offered her. She's been gone for three months, Rogers. THREE!" Steve hushed Tony and replied, "She'll be back soon." He then walked away from Tony yells, got into Sam's car, then they drove to the cemetery to meet up with Nick. Nick gave him the flash drive with Phantom's message, Natasha gave him Bucky's file, and Sam asked, "You're going after him too?" Steve told Sam that he didn't have to come, but Sam replied, "I know. When do we start?" Steve proceeded to Sam's car, which was newly bought, thanks to Tony who felt bad since Phantom was involved. He saw a flash drive outlet, so Steve plugged in the flash drive and listened to Phantom's recording. "Steve, I'm going after him. This is my only chance. I know, he's your friend. I'm sorry." The messaged ended there and Steve sighed, because he knew. When the time comes: he'll have to choose between the his best friend and the girl he's admired.

During this time, Phantom was scourging through a trail of woods, looking for the last spot where the tracker was located. It's remained within the area for a couple of days, and was currently remaining in one spot. She saw that the tracker was within a bush of blackberries, and when she moved the leaves and vines, she saw the tracker itself, out of the target's arm. Phantom picked it up with a pair of tweezers and she analyzed it. It was covered in dried up blood and berry juice. Phantom put the tracker within a plastic bag, put it within her backpack, and proceeded to analyze the situation. "He was here. It must have been at least five days ago, just going off of the dry blood and berry juice. His pattern has remained inconsistent, which seems to be the norm for Soldier. He went to New York, Kentucky, Tennessee, Pennsylvania, and now here in Ohio. If I'm five days behind him, that means he could be as far as Florida, Missouri, or even possibly Montana," Phantom told herself while analyzing her current situation. She let out a heavy sigh and stated, "Well, I can't find him now. I'll have to go back to square one and go on mercenary jobs again to try to get his location." Phantom went into her new Audi A6 that she bought for herself, and decided to drive all the way back to New York. As she drove, she turned on her radio to hear Natasha talking about how the world needed them and that the government weren't going to arrest any of those who defend it against S.H.I.E.L.D. She smiled, felt that she was tired of this experience, and put her StarkPhone into the speakers.

She put her music on all the way back to New York, and when she parked her car, she went up the elevator and stopped on the main lounge floor, and sat down. Phantom began to sink into the soft cushion of the couch, until she heard the elevator door open, and she heard Tony yell, "Don't get too comfy. I need you to pack your things and head off to London." Phantom groaned and replied, "Really? I just got back from a three month tracking mission, and you're going to send me away, just as I get back?" Tony shrugged, came up on her from behind, kissed the top of her head, and stated, "I'm glad you're back, but that mission was on your own leisure time. I got a call from Thor's lady's friend, and she reported that Thor's Lady went missing. She reported that they was a giant frequency that they were following when Foster went missing by Thor taking her. The frequency is jumping off of the charts and I fear that something might happen. I can't leave due to the fall of S.H.I.E.L.D. and the government wanting me to stick around to help it, so I'm sending my next best thing. So, London, discover problem, find Foster, neutralize threat, then come home. Tolerate you." Phantom waved her hand at him and replied, "Tolerate you too. Fine, guess I'll go help Thor with his lady problems in London. What could possible go wrong?"


	8. Thor 2

Phantom went up to her room, grabbed a spare change of clothes from her closet and a fresh set of weaponry that she thought that she might have needed. She made sure that she gave her beloved Cerberus a hug, kiss, and some food before she had to leave him once again. When she went to the landing dock full of aircrafts for her to take, she was instructed to take the last one, which was stocked up on bullets and energy. She saw that the jet was the safe one that she hadn't experiment with some new weaponry that she thought would work for another alien attack, if need be. The one she wanted to take was across from safe one that Tony wanted her to take. She knew that the one she wanted to take was stocked up with weapons and energy as much as the other one was, so she decided take the one she wanted. She got into the aircraft, and took off into the sky to head to London. While piloting there, she made a call to Tony, who picked up the phone in a matter of seconds, "I'm in a meeting. What is it?" Phantom replied, "What exact part of London am I going to? You know, London is huge and I need an exact location." Tony sent the coordinates to her aircrafts computer and she saw where it was. "Greenwich huh? Haven't been there yet," Phantom stated to no in particular. The computer program also showed a graph of astrophysical proportions growing. Therefore, she knew that she had to pull it into overdrive to get to where she needed to get to.

When Phantom arrived to see a large t-shipped spaceship upon the River of Thames. She took further view to see darkish creatures with metal mask on their faces with weapons, so she made an assumption that they weren't friends, so she did what she knew best: shoot first, ask questions later. She opened fired on any of the intruders, until she saw a giant white four-legged beast that looked to be a mixture of a saber tooth tiger mixed with a spider for its mouth, and a dinosaurs skin. She flew over to the beast and shot at it as much as she could, taking it while some of the Earth visitors, who were firing at her ship. Phantom saw a familiar face, so she decided to make a call, "JARVIS, CALL MISS JANE FOSTER, NOW!" JARVIS replied, "Yes, ma'am," while making the call. Jane looked at her phone with confusion until she picked it up while running, "YES?" Phantom was relieved that Jane picked up, so she replied, "Miss Foster, this is Phantom of the Avengers. I'm the one piloting the aircraft shooting down all of the visitors, and I was wondering… WHAT EXACTLY IS GOING ON?!" Jane was surprised to hear the girl yell at her through the phone, but Jane explained, "The Dark Elves are trying to destroy the universe with a weapon that is going to open in Greenwich." Phantom asked how to stop it, and Jane told her that Malekith, the Dark Elf Lord needed to be killed and his weapon recovered before the convergence it at its peak. Phantom nodded her head at the information, and flew towards the ship. Phantom fired her missiles to destroy the ship as much as possible, thinking that the weapon was the ship itself.

As the ship, began to fall, it still managed to keep its form, so she decided to use her latest invention that she developed at the lab. She decided to make a call once again to Miss Foster. "HEY, MISS FOSTER! IS ANYONE IMPORTANT ON THE SHIP, OR AM I FREE TO OPEN FIRE TO MAKE IT GO DOWN?!" Jane was at a lost for words, until she replied, "YES, YES! THE LEADER IS ON THE SHIP! DESTORY IT NOW!" Phantom smirked at the desperation in Jane's voice and replied, "Yes ma'am." Phantom opened her firing ignition button, but when she saw that the gun wasn't working, she knew that she had to find out why. "JARVIS, I NEED YOU TO AUTOPILOT WHILE I FIX THE CANNON!" JARVIS spoke over her speakers, "Miss Phantom, I believe that to be a poor decision and that you are in poor judgement at the moment." Phantom grew tired of the sassy AI's attitude, so she shot back, "DO I NEED OVERRIDE YOU AGAIN?! JUST FOLLOW MY DAMN ORDER, SO I CAN BLAST THAT DAMN SHIP!" JARVIS just replied, "Yes, Miss," and then he took the wheel from her. Phantom opened the back hatch to the outside and she climbed on the side stairs that led to her cannon that was storing energy so it could fire. She used the anti-gravity, suction ability of her Iron Boots to keep her holding on to the ship without her having any feeling that she was going to fall off. She checked the wiring of the cannon and she saw that the barrel's wiring was completely fine as was the ignition, but she saw that the cannon's energy distributor was on the fritz. She took out her equipment and began the try to tighten the distributor, but it made it even more shocking and fritz-like, so she loosened it up, which caused it to become stable. After it reached a point that it could fire, so she went to bridge, and JARVIS exclaimed to her, "Miss Phantom. The cannon isn't stable anymore. The energy has been scattered to the point where even attempting to make a shot, might cause a catastrophic explosion to your vessel."

Phantom knew what the risk was, but she also knew that she had to take this chance. "JARVIS, call Tony, please," Phantom requested. JARVIS called Tony, who answered on the first ring, "Hey, do you need me to come help you?" Tony asked without even saying hello to her. Phantom sighed at his request, so she replied, "No. But do you remember that one weapon I've been developing for the aircrafts?" Tony felt that he wasn't going to like where this conversation was going, so he stated, "Yes?" Phantom swallowed hard, "Well… I took the aircraft with it. It… kinda need some adjusting, so I adjusted it, but now it is theoretically unstable and unsafe to fire. I have to fire it though, so I decided to call you before I did and in case something happened. If I get hospitalized… DON'T TOUCH MY WEAPONS!" Tony was about to contradict her, but she stated, "Watch the news and see if this works. Ready, JARVIS! Let's fire the cannon!" Tony was yelling at her not do anything and for JARVIS to override her cannon, but Phantom already pushed the lever forward to power the cannon off and silence him on her phone. Phantom saw that the cannon had enough energy to fire. As soon as she had the ship on sight and aligned, she fired. The cannon shot off a dark red energy beam that went up the ship to cause the metal to heat up, then implode on itself. It kept its blast until she reached the top then she pulled the lever back and yelled, "WOOOOOOHOOOOO! BEST CANNON EVER!" Phantom saw the ship completely explode and crumble down until it vanished into one of the portals. "THERE GOES CLEANUP DUTY FOR THE SHIP!" Phantom unmuted the phone, only to hear Tony scream, "YOUNG LADY, CAN YOU EVEN HEAR ME?! YOU ARE SO GROUNDED WHEN YOU GET HOME! NO TV, NO MISSIONS, NO VISITORS! NO PETER! NO WEAPONRY DEVELOPMENT NOR TRAINING!" Phantom yelled back, "HEY, HEY, HEY! I'M NOT DEAD! YOU CAN'T TAKE PETER AWAY FROM ME! Same goes for training. Also I know as well as you, that you wanna check out my weapon and see how it works." Tony sighed at her and replied back, "I actually do wanna see it. As for the grounding, no missions. Three months. No negotiation." Phantom sighed at him and agreed, "Fine, but I need to set up a cleanup crew for this mess." Tony agreed and then they did their whole, "Tolerate You" shtick, only the hang up on each other.

Phantom landed the aircraft near Jane's location, and then she ran out to where Thor and the others were. When she ran up to them, she asked, "Is everyone alright?" Thor looked up to her, because he was on the ground. "Young Daughter of Man of Iron. Why are you here?" Phantom knelt down to the man, and replied, "You know that wide giant beam of red light that went through the sky to hit the ship, causing it to explode? Yeah, that was me and my new weapon." Thor looked at her with such confusion in his eye. "Darcy called Tony, who had to call me to come in due to S.H.I.E.L.D. falling through the cracks earlier this year. The new weapon was just tested on that ship, which worked smashingly. I think that I need to mass produce it later for the Tower and Stark Aircrafts. I want to add a scatter rays option, but I need to talk to Stark about it later. Anyway, if you come to my aircraft, I'll get you all healed up, okay? That goes for all of you. Come on, Big Guy." Phantom picked up Thor and supported him as they walked over to her aircraft, where she sat him down on her bed that she had installed in all of the aircrafts in case of an overnight flight or assignment. She grabbed one of her water bottles that she also had stored in all of the aircrafts as well. She laid him down, poured the water over him, and began to work on healing his body. As she worked, Thor continued to giggle and tried to move, but Phantom had to slap him gently to make him stop squirming. Thor also tried to watch as she went to work and he decided to ask, "Young Phantom. How are you able to manipulate water such as the Sacred Eikthyrnir?" Phantom raised her eyebrow at him, thought about what he just asked, and replied, "Those are deer in Valhala that can purify water, right? My abilities were from my father's genetics, meaning that I got my abilities that he had. They were originally hydro-kinetically based, meaning I can control and manipulate water, so yeah. That's why I can do stuff like this." Thor nodded his head at her response faking that he understood. She finished healing him, then she went to Jane, Darcy, Erik, and that Ian man.

After she healed up everyone, she had to think about who she would call in order to clean up the damage that was done. She would normally call Nick Fury, but since he was "dead," he really was an option anymore. Her next option would be one of the other Guilds, but since she destroyed her own old Guild, she knew that it wouldn't be smart for her to call them. She had to think about who was one of the best people in the world to clean up tore up and damaged areas. She tried to think of someone, but when she couldn't, she made a call to an old mercenary colleague. The phone rang three times, the line was silent, until she stated, "Information." The person questioned, "Connection?" Phantom smiled and replied, "Christmas 2010. Montana to South Dakoda; track, kill, send." The person replied, "Irkalla speaking. Good to hear from you, Phantom." Phantom nodded her head at his greeting, "Good to hear from as well, Irkalla. I need a cleanup crew for this mess in London. You got any suggestions?" Irkalla laughed his deep rich laugh, and replied, "Try the Department of Damage Control. You know, the man you live with runs it right?" Phantom thought about that for a moment, and replied, "Well… don't I feel stupid. Thanks for telling me. Goodbye." Phantom hung up the phone, and called her adoptive father. He answered in a couple of seconds with a sing song tone, "Yeeeeeees?" Phantom's eyebrow twitched at him and she asked, "You let me try to fixate a cleanup crew, when you already had a department for this kind of situation?" Tony laughed from the other side of the line, and replied, "I already sent the report and they are on their way. I just wanted you to stress a little like I usually do about your well-being. Come home as soon as possible. Tolerate you." She replied, "Tolerate you too. I'll be home in as soon as I can." Phantom turned to Thor, Jane, Darcy, Erik, and the man who just met and asked, "Do any of you need a ride?" All of them shook their heads and replied their thanks. They all got out of her aircraft, and she had to plane take off back to New York.

Once she got back to New York, Tony confiscated all of her keys for all of the vehicles that she could have drove, the keys to her lab, and the keys to her weaponry storage room. He went over to the plane, detached the cannon, then they both went to the lab to analyze it. When Tony saw the stabilizer for the distribulator, and when he saw it, he immediately yelled, "YOU REALIZE YOU COULD HAVE KILLED YOURSELF FROM EXPLODING BY DOING THIS!" Phantom just cuffed her ears with her hands to prevent any hearing damage. She smiled him and replied, "I already heard this from JARVIS. I didn't die. The stabilizer says that although the energy itself is unstable, it manages to continue to shoot through and not explode. I think that it's fine. I'm actually thinking of calibrating the other cannons the same was, along with a scatter shot option, but I'll install it after I get ungrounded. And no, I don't want you to do it, I can do it myself." Tony smiled and replied, "Fine. I'm gonna help you when you are ungrounded. No more cannons though, although I like the scatter option. Now go to your room, go get clean, feed Cerberus, then go give him a walk. He's really missed you." Phantom waved at him as she went to elevator to go follow his orders and fulfill her punishment.


	9. Age Of Ultron

Phantom drove her all-black 0ATV-G002 Monster 300, Stark approved four-wheeler as she and the other Avengers stormed this final HYDRA bas to try to retrieve Loki's staff… again. Phantom came over her com and asked in a sassy tone, "Now are we sure this is the place where that stupid glowing stick of destiny is at, this time? I'm getting really tired of this whole take down HYDRA without killing them while we storm their place theme that we have achieved." Tony laughed at her question and tried to go into the base on his own, but he was bounced off the base's force field and he yelled, "SHIT!" Steve, knowing full well that he was trying to get both Phantom and Tony to stop swearing, replied, "LANGUAGE! JARVIS, what's the view from upstairs?" Phantom laughed through her com as she heard Steve yell at Tony about his language. When she saw the soldiers approaching her tail, she used something that she had been working on over the past two years, she used her hydrokinetic abilities. She turned the ice into water from behind and sent up spikes of ice into the tires of the vehicles behind her. She yelled, "WOOHOO," as she usually does when something goes right and she's really excited about an assignment. She heard JARVIS give his shpeal about the energy shield and Thor's thought about Loki's scepter being there. Natasha added her opinion, "At long last is lasting a little long, boy." Phantom yelled in agreement, while sending out another wave of ice spike, "Yeah. We're gonna need a vacation after this. Maybe somewhere a little warmer!" Clint decided to add his feedback on this issue, "Yeah. I think we lost the element of surprise due to Phantom's yelling." Phantom laughed at Clint's comment through the com, as Tony, who felt out in the situation, shot out, "Wait a second. No one else is going to deal with the fact that Cap just said "language."" Phantom blurted out her laugh through the com and stated, "Awwww, come on, Tony. You know he just wants us to quit, just like with drinking. It's not gonna happen, but the man's still gonna try." Steve felt embarrassed by the two Starks, so to take out his frustration, he threw his bike at some soldiers approaching in a truck and replied, "I know. It just slipped out."

Phantom laughed once again, because she saw the pun that Steve made. She saw the enemy cannons getting ready to fire, so she asked politely and eagerly, "Tony, is a cannon time?" That was always her way to ask to use her cannons. She got to use them about once in a great moon, but Tony didn't like their instability, so that's why he never wanted her to use them. Tony saw HYDRA's cannons getting ready to fire, so he knew that he had no choice, and replied, "Proceed with caution. Level three just to take out the cannons." Phantom groaned from the other side of the line. Her cannons had been developed to a ten level energy system. She never got to push them to their limits ever since Greenwich, because Tony always believed them to be unsafe. Phantom turned on her cannon, and once it had the energy stored, she turned on the scatter option. She yelled, "TAKE COVER!" and then she fired. The cannon shot out a barrage of energy beams that hit the cannons causing them to implode on themselves. She then took a mental note that she needed to learn how to speed up the energy gathering process for her next project with the cannons.

Phantom heard Clint was down, so she hopped on her four-wheeler only to have it knocked upside down, causing snow to go into the cannon. "ARE YOU SHITTING ME?!" She yelled only to hear language from Steve once again. Phantom unlatched her scythe from her back and prepared for whatever was coming. She calmed her mind and heart as she usually did when she knew that she had to get serious and she waited. She honed into the softest sounds of footsteps. She heard an excelled foot speed approaching her, and so she concentrated gust of wind under her feet and shot up last second, only to be pulled down by someone one. As she fell, she was caught into the arms of who she thought was a gorgeous European man with bleach blond hair, a dark hair mustache and beard that enhanced his attractiveness, in her opinion. He wore a black track suit and she noted that he had very muscular arms. "Did you not see me coming?" The man asked with a very thick accent. Phantom smiled and replied, "Well, if I would have saw you coming, I would have prepared myself more. I mean, look at me. I'm actually wearing long pants. If I would have known that you were going to catch me, I would have wore my usual shorts and turtle neck crop top." He smirked at her flirtation remark and shot back, "Well, even with your tight black shirt and tights, you still look incredible. And you are so light without that scythe. Almost like a soft snowflake falling." Phantom smirked at him and shot back, "Oh, I bet you use that line on all female heroes." He held his smirk and stated, "If they all fall into my arms and are as pretty and light as you, then yes. However, you are the first."

Phantom heard Tony call her through her com, "Phantom, where are you? We need you in the front." Phantom replied while smirking at the mysterious man still holding her within his arms, "I'll be there in a moment. I gotta handle something first, it may take a bit." He held a sultry smirk at her, and replied while her com was still on, "Oh, I am something that you need a bit to handle?" Tony yelled through the com, "WHO THE HELL IS THAT?!" Phantom smiled and replied, "Bye. I'll be there in a bit." She took her hand off of the com to stop talking through it, but she could still hear Tony. She looked at the man and stated, "Okay. So, here's the deal, either you put me down, and we dook it out, or you run me over to Stark and make you an Avenger. Option one means I will have to hunt you down, and take you to jail. Option two, you get to come live with me. I prefer option two, if you ask me." The man sighed at her and replied, "I'm sorry, Engel, but I don't wanna fight nor take you to Stark, so I'm gonna make a third option." Phantom went up, kissed his cheek, and stated, "Option One it is." Phantom created a ten feet radius of three-inch ice from the snow, jumped out of his arms, formed blades of ice under her shoes so she could skate. She skated away from him, waved at him, and replied, "Have fun on the ice." The man tried to run after her, but he kept slipping on the ice. When Phantom got off the ice, Phantom made some water from the snow above him, surround it around the man, and formed it into ice rope connecting his arms to his body, and his legs together so he wouldn't be able to run away. She then formed a giant sphere of ice around him with tiny holes, so that the man would be able to breathe. She heard him call out to her, "Liebchen, will you give me conjugation visits?" Phantom was about to run away, until she turned and responded, "Maybe. If you be good, I'll come see you." Phantom then ran to go find the other Avengers.

Phantom decided to try to use her abilities rather than fly with her Iron Boots, so she used her hydrokinetic abilities to slide all the way to the base. "Huh, I kinda feel like Frozo," Phantom thought to herself as she slid all the way to the base. Once she arrived, she shouted on the top of her lungs, "HONEY, WHERE'S MY SUPERSUIT?!" Tony laughed at her question, and responded, "WHY DO YOU NEED IT?!" Phantom dashed to where she heard Tony's voice, and yelled, "YOU TELL ME WHERE MY SUIT IS, MAN! WE ARE TALKING ABOUT THE GREATER GOOD!" Tony kept laughing and responded, "GREATER GOOD? I AM YOUR FATHER AND TONY STARK! I AM THE GREATEST THAT YOU ARE EVER GONNA GET!" Phantom fell over at that last comment, and she began to die of laughter. After she got done laughing, she ran over to where JARVIS told to go. While she ran to him, Tony was hit with the vision that Wanda had sent into his mind. Tony saw that all of the Avengers had fallen, including Phantom. He lifted her upper body, only to see her eyes wide open with blood coming out of the sockets, her ears, and her mouth. Her eyes were pitch back and when Tony glanced down to her chest, he saw that her heart was gone. He looked over to see a giant crater with a black shriveled stone that was in the shape of a human heart in the center of a deep crater within the original crater, and that's when Tony realized what happened. Phantom had sacrificed her own life to try to save the others. Tony check Steve's pulse next, only to be grabbed by the soldier. The soldier opened up his mouth and stated, "You could've saved us. You've could've save her." Steve died before Tony, and his messaged rang throughout Tony's head, "Why didn't you do more?" Tony looked around only to see that he was in the Chitauri realm, until he felt that someone, who was calling out his name, was shaking him. "Ny… ony… Tony… TONY!" Tony came back, blinked his eyes, and focused his vision to see Phantom looking up at him with concern. Tony felt relief that his pride and joy was still alive and before him, so he swoop her up in a giant bear hug. Phantom felt him shaking while he was holding her, so she sent calming thoughts into his mind, stroke the back of his head, and asked, "Tony, are you okay?" Tony shook his head to say no, and she stated, "Well, why don't we head back to the tower, make some cups of hot cocoa with some rumchata, watch some Disney films with Peter and I, and then we can go to the labs and work on advancing your suits and my cannons?" Tony nodded at her request, so she pulled away, smiled, and allowed Tony to grab the scepter as took some samples of the Chitauri leviathan for some usage for her invention.

While Phantom went to Tony, Wanda was running over to see her brother had been captured by the enemy, within an igloo of ice. Wanda destroyed the igloo, only to see her brother smirking up at her. She kept a glare to him and responded, "Distracted by a pretty face, right?" He nodded and replied, "She was flirting with me as much as I was flirting with her. She's awfully beautiful. If only she was against Stark." Wanda took the ice rope off of him, threw it to the ground, and shattered the ice surrounding the area. Pietro grabbed his sister and ran back to the base to see Phantom and Tony having their father/daughter moment. Pietro looked to his sister and asked, "We're just going to let them take it?" Wanda hushed her brother and had him run her back into the city.

Phantom called her aircraft to their location, and had everyone, including their worse criminal, with them. Phantom gave Bruce her Starkphone and her beats, so that he could listen to calming music while they head back to the tower. Before she entered the craft, she remembered something and proclaimed, "SHIT! I almost forgot about him. I captured the male enhanced." Tony and Steve ran over to where Phantom showed them and she saw that all of her ice was destroyed and her prisoner had escaped. "Well damn. He got away," Phantom exclaimed defeatedly. "The cute ones always get away," Phantom thought to herself. Tony wrapped his arm around Phantom's shoulders and stated, "Language. Don't worry. We always lose one once in our lives." Phantom sighed at him and led the men back to the aircraft.

They dropped Strucker off at a maximum security facility, and then drove back to the tower. Phantom was piloting the plane as she listened to the others conversations as she did. She heard Bruce and Natasha talking about the lullaby until Natasha asked Thor about the report on Hulk, who replied, "The gates of Hell are fill with the screams of his victims." Phantom felt her eyebrow twitch as Bruce groaned in despair, so she asked, "REALLY THOR?! YOU KNOW HOW SENSITIVE BRUCE IS ABOUT HULK!" Thor felt bad so he contradicted, "Uh, but not the screams of the dead, of course. No no, uh… wounded screams, mainly whimpering, great deal of complaining and tales of sprained deltoids and, and uh… gout." Phantom started to laugh from her seat and she asked, "Gout? That's the best you could come up with as a cover up?" Thor shrugged his shoulders as his response, which only made Phantom shake her head at him. Tony sat next to Phantom most of the flight back to New York and talked to her about the enhanced man who she encountered, until he yelled to the others, "Hey Banner, Dr. Cho's on her way in from Seoul, is it okay if she sets up in your lab since Phantom doesn't allow anyone into hers without her there." Phantom did a light punch to Tony's arm and responded, "You don't want the tower to explode do you? I deal with highly explosive technology and highly poisonous chemicals and brews. We don't need an epidemic on our hands." Bruce responded to Tony by stating that it was okay for Dr. Cho to set up since she knows her way around." Tony yelled to JARVIS, "Tell her to prep everything, Barton's gonna need the full treatment." Tony got up and allowed Phantom to pilot the aircraft on her own, while he picked up and observed, "It feels good, yeah? I mean, you've been after this thing since S.H.I.E.L.D. collapsed. Not that I haven't enjoyed our little raiding parties, but…" Thor contradicted him, "No, but this… this brings it to a close." Phantom yelled from her seat, "I've enjoyed the raids. They give me practice and new stuff to work with in my lab." Everyone shook their heads at the youngest Avenger, and Steve asked, "As soon as we find out what else this has been used for. I don't just mean weapons. Since when is Strucker capable of human enhancement?" Phantom yelled, "The Chitauri liquid within them contained chemicals that can be used in genetic mutation." Tony glared at her and asked, "YOU'VE BEEN EXPERIMENTING ON CHITAURI STUFF AGAIN?! YOU DIDN'T LEARN FROM LAST TIME, DID YOU?!" Phantom just looked forward and stated, "Uh… maybe?" Tony glared at her and stated, "You're grounded, once again, for disobeying me." Phantom contradicted, "Technically, you didn't say that I couldn't. You said I should learn from that experience, so I didn't disobey you, so you can't ground me for disobeying you." Tony glared at her and stated, "Just you wait." Tony looked over to Steve and stated, "Banner and I'll give it the once before it goes back to Asgard. Is that cool with you? I mean, just a few days until the farewell party. You're staying right?" Thor replied, "Yes, yes, of course. A victory should be honored with revels." Tony felt happey that the party was still a go, so he asked to Steve, "Yeah. Who doesn't love revels. Captain?" Captain smiled at Tony's request, "Hopefully this puts an end to the Chitauri and HYDRA, so. Yes, revels."

Phantom laughed from her seat and landed the aircraft at their headquarters where Barton was taken to have his wound tend to. Maria walked up to Tony as Phantom walked out to go to go put her weapons away. "Lab's all set up, boss," Maria stated to Tony. Tony contradicted her by pointing at Steve and replying, "Uh, actually, he's the boss. I just pay for everything, and design everything and make everyone look cooler." Steve walked with Maria while she gave him the details on the enhanced. "What's the word on Strucker and the two enhanced?" Maria responded, "NATO's got Strucker. Wanda and Pietro Maximoff. Twins. Orphaned at ten when a shell collapsed their apartment building. Sokovia's had a rough history. It's nowhere special but it's on the way to everywhere special." Steve asked, "Their abilities." The elevator opened to reveal Phantom in a black sweetheart leotard with light pink tights with a long sleeve top wrap and a black wrap skirt with pink trimming. Her hair was up in a high bun, and she had on a white facemask with her pink toe shoes hanging from her elbow. Maria replied, "He's got increased metabolism and improved thermal homeostasis. Her thing is neural electric interfacing, telekinesis, mental manipulation." Steve looked at her funny and Phantom explained, "He's fast and she's weird." Steve stepped into the elevator and exclaimed, "Well, they're going to show up again." Maria agreed and told them that the twins were nuts for being volunteers for the experimentation. Steve felt a little attacked and replied, "Right. What kind of monster would let a German scientist experiment on them to protect their country?" Maria knowing that Steve was talking about himself, stated, "We're not at war, Captain." Steve contradicted her by stating while the elevator door shut, "They are." Phantom giggled at his comment and they rode the elevator to her practice floor. One of the rooms was a dance studio, another was a tiny Chinese poolroom sort of like a large set of springs for her hydrokinetic ability practice, one was a weaponry room with moving targets, her lab, and the final room was a highly enduring metal room that she uses for her other abilities to practice.

Phantom got out of elevator, and Steve followed her. When she got to her dance studio door, she turned to Steve and asked, "Are you actually going to come in this time, or are you going to watch me through the police glass like you usually do?" Steve smiled at her and replied, "Yes." She went away from the dance studio door and went into the Japanese pool room while Steve followed her in and shut the door. Phantom sat down, wrapped up her toes, feet, and ankles, then put on her point shoes by lacing them up around her ankles. Phantom raised her head while she stood up, and yelled, "Okay, JARVIS. Would you please put on "At The Ballet" over the speakers? The Glee version please." Phantom stepped towards the water, and when she stepped on to the water, the water froze only underneath her feet causing her to be able to look like that she was walking on water. As the music started to play, Phantom a dance routine that consisted of jetes, pirouettes, and ballet positions by herself, until the song went "That everyone is beautiful at the ballet." The water rose in several places and formed into several ballet dancers and they all did a ballet dance routine. One of the water figures that had a masculine shape lifted her up at "Every prince has got to have his swan." Steve felt a little jealous of the water figure, so he walked onto the water towards her and the figures as they did circle around each other. When the chorus hit, Steve and Phantom began to dance, with what little that Steve knew about ballet, as Steve lifted her into the air at "Raise your arms and someone's always there." When he put her down, Phantom danced around him, as he held on to her as she looked as to fall and pulled her back up. At the end, Steve spun her in a small circle of herself, then had his arms around her waist, her back against his chest, her being on pointe, her right arm at the right side of his head, her left arm resting on his arms around her waist, and her head looking to the left with her eyes shut, leaning against is chest.

Tony came over the speakers, yelling, "NO MORE DANCE PRACTICE! PHANTOM, PETER'S GOING TO BE HERE IN ABOUT TWO HOURS, SO YOU NEED TO GET AROUND!" Phantom pulled away from Steve, and was about to walk away, until Steve grabbed her arm, pulled her into his arms, and whispered shyly, "Victoria. Do you mind if I join you, Peter, and Tony for movie night?" Phantom giggled at his cute request and replied, "Sure, but first: you and I need to take showers since we haven't showered since we came back from the mission. You are even still in your uniform." Phantom pulled away from him, and sashayed out of the room, and before she walked out, she glanced over to Steve with a clear smile on her face and a flirty look in her eyes. She left the room, went to the elevator, and went to her floor to see Cerberus sitting on the couch in her living room, watching Cartoon Network for all of the bright colors and sounds. Phantom learned very quickly from Cerberus that he could see colors and understand English. Cerberus turned towards her, and his tag automatically began to wag profoundly. Phantom walked over to him, pet him, kissed him, and exclaimed, "Hello baby boy. I missed you. Peter's coming over in about two hours to have movie night with Steve and Tony, okay? You and I are going to go take a shower, I'm gonna put on some comfy clothes, then we're going to go downstairs to food, and finally watch Disney Movies." Cerberus got off of the couch, stretched, and walked with her to the shower. They took their standard shower and Phantom dried them off. Phantom went to her closet, picked out a set cute pajamas, and put them on. The top was a black satin cami and short-shorts. The cami had a deep v-neck that had lace covering her cleavage and lace at the end of the shorts. The pajamas hugged her figure beautifully and she felt happy and sexy within the outfit. Phantom gave her hair loose curls to make herself look cute. Phantom put on a light shade of gold and highlighter to give her an enhanced natural beauty look. Phantom put on a cute pair of black fuzzy bedroom slippers, some Bath & Body Works Japanese Cherry Blossom perfume, and rolled on some pheromones scent on around her neck, in between her cleavage, on her wrist, and behind her ears. Phantom looked herself over in her body length mirror, messed with her hair a little bit to feel herself.

After that, Phantom put on her brown with white polka dot apron, grabbed as many blankets and pillows as she could, and went down to the main lounge area with Cerberus, who was carrying his doggie bed down stairs with his own blanket. She went to the kitchen area, looked at the time and saw that she had an hour and a haft left to get ready for the movie night. Phantom made regular popcorn from the popcorn maker that Tony bought for Peter and Phantom when they began their movie nights. Phantom proceeded to make a set of popcorn without any butter nor salt. She added melted white vanilla almond bark with finely crushed Oreos to the popped popcorn. After she made that, she made some homemade brownies with Hershey chocolate sauce mixed into the mixture before she baked them. While those brownies baked, Phantom made a super set of nachos. She arranged a mixture of 2 different types of corn chips around a platter, made her homemade salsa, cooked her meat, then made the cheese. She put the cheese over the set of cheese, put beef, bean, and pico de gallo over the cheese, then added even more cheese over the set of beef, bean, and pico de gallo evenly. Phantom added more chips around the sides of the platter, so that everyone could scoop up the nachos, and she even put another bowl of chips just in case. Phantom took out the brownies, cooled down the brownies using her abilities, and cut the brownies into small pieces. Phantom made creamy Oreo Dip Dessert for the brownies in case anyone wanted to dip their brownies to add flavor. After all of that, Phantom set out some chocolate bars, such as Hershey chocolate bars, Milky Ways, Kit Kats, and Twix along with some Oreo Cookies. Phantom took out Tony's favorite scotch and put it into the pouring glass, along with a bucket of ice. Phantom took out a two-liter of Dr. Pepper for her, bottles of water for Steve, and some apple juice for Peter. After she was happy with her setup for all of the humans, she set out a tiny bowl of salad, a cooked steak, and a large bowl of water for Cerberus with some peanut butter bones for dessert. Phantom took off her apron, folded it up, and put it into the one of the drawers. Phantom quickly cleaned up all of the dishes that she used to make the treats and put them away as well.

As soon as she sat down on the couch, JARVIS cam on over the speaker to say, "Miss Phantom, Mr. Parker is waiting down in the lobby prepared to come up for movie night. Shall I allow him up?" Phantom told him yes, and Peter came up on the elevator. Steve came in from the stairs wearing a maroon colored short sleeve t-shirt, a pair of black pajamas, with black slippers. While Steve came in through the stairs, Peter came out of the elevator wearing his a blue long sleeve button up shirt, a pair of worn out jeans, and worn out sneakers. He had a large gym bag with him, with a pillow and blanket. Phantom glanced over to Peter, pointed to the bathroom and stated, "Peter, go get changed into your PJs. Steve, could you be a dear and go get Tony while I make him some hot chocolate?" Peter went to the bathroom, Steve went into the elevator, and then Phantom got up from the couch and made a kettle of hot chocolate with some Rumchata that Phantom promised to Tony. Peter came out of the bathroom as both Tony and Steve came out of the elevator. Tony wore gray sweatpants with an ACDC t-shirt while Peter wore an old school red button-up short sleeve shirt with pants to match. All of the men went to the couch and sat down on the couch. Phantom came around and all of the men looked at what she was wearing. Peter had gotten use to what she wore whenever they had movie night, so it didn't faze him, while Steve and Tony had different reactions. Steve's face was getting as red as his shirt as he checked out all of her exposed skin, while Tony was mortified. Tony shot up and yelled, "YOU NEED TO GO CHANGE NOW!" Phantom put the kettle down in front of the men, crossed her arms, and stated, "No. It's already late enough, and I want to get movie night started."

Phantom sat down on the middle of the couch on the right of Peter, put her giant blanket around both of them with extra to her right, and turned on the giant projector over the black window blinds. Steve sat down next to her while Tony sat down next to Steve while whispering, "Do anything, and I will end you." Phantom yelled out to JARVIS, "Okay, J. Turn on the Disney Movie Marathon Playlist I had schedule, starting with Hercules." JARVIS turned on the movie over the projector. When the opening song came on, Peter glanced at Phantom was just remaining quiet and slowly eating her popcorn. She felt someone watching her, so she glanced over to Peter and asked, "What?" Peter just seemed shocked and explained, "Well, you usually sing when it comes to Disney Movies. I'm just surprised that you're not, that's all." Phantom let out a smirk, scoot in closer to the unsuspecting boy, and asked teasingly, "Do you want me to sing?" Peter felt her naked arm touch his as she scooted closer to him, so he began to blush, and replied quietly and very shy, "Yeah. That's one of the reasons why I love to watch Disney movies with you." Phantom smiled at his reaction and waited until the third version "The Gospel Truth" to sing with the movie before them, which surprised to the men to the right of her. Neither one of the them were surprised that she could sing, since they both have heard her sing before, but she never did it so openly. Whenever she sang, it was always by accident when she really quiet or when she thought she was by herself. After the song, Tony clapped at her vocal performance, but Phantom just laughed at his applause, so she stood up and bowed to him. During the most of the movie, Phantom sang with the songs with a little energy, and swayed a little back and forth in her seat.

Right before "I Won't Say I'm in Love," Steve and Tony ate all of the buttered popped popcorn, so Phantom got up and made some more for everybody, but the song came on and Phantom went off. She sang out the song while dancing to the beat while the popped. Everyone turned around to see her dance, without her even noticing. When she put all of the popcorn in buckets and turned around, all the men turned around to watch the movie, so that she wouldn't know that they were watching (but she did). Phantom brought the popcorn to them, sat back down in her spot, laid herself down with her head on Peter's lap, her legs on Steve, and her feet on Tony while singing, "Ohhh… at least out loud. I won't say I'm in… love…" Tony looked at her feet and asked, "Did you get a pedicure today?" Phantom laughed at his question and responded, "No."

The rest of the movie night consisted of singing, making jokes, and reciting the Disney movie iconic lines. After the third movie, Tony left the group to go work in his lab, leaving Phantom with the two men to continue watching the Disney movies. In the middle of the sixth movie, Tarzan, "You'll Be in My Heart" was playing and Steve felt a weight fall on his arm. He looked over to see Phantom fast sleep on him, while Peter was fast asleep on her. Steve waited until the whole movie was over until he asked JARVIS to shut it off and went to push Phantom over to Peter so he could take them to her floor. Phantom woke up as soon as Steve tried to push her away, and asked, "Steve… is movie night over already?" Steve smiled and nodded at her. She pushed Peter to the side of the couch gentle enough for him to stay asleep. Phantom stood up, grabbed the blankets, and tied them around Cerberus while giving him two pillows to put in his mouth. Phantom was about to scoop Peter up, until Steve stopped her and stated, "No, it's alright. I'll carry him up. He stays in the guest room on your floor, right?" Phantom nodded at her head to him, and Steve scooped him up and carried him to the elevator with Cerberus carrying the bedding, and Phantom cleaning up the main lounge area. After Phantom sprayed out the bowls and cups, using the garage disposal, and put them into the dishwashers. Phantom went up to her floor to see Steve sitting on her couch. Phantom smiled at him, grabbed Peters blanket and pillow from Cerberus, and went into her guest room. Phantom saw Peter fast asleep on his bed, so Phantom put his pillow under his head, tucked his blanket in around him, and then kissed his forehead as he slept while whispering to him, "Goodnight, Peter. Sweet dreams."

Phantom shut his door quietly, went out into her living room, walked towards her room, and asked Steve while walking, "Hey, you going to stay the night tonight?" Steve smiled, rose from his seat, and walked with Phantom to her room. Any time Steve came home while Phantom was home, he would regularly go sleep with Phantom whenever he knew that Tony was working within his lab, and vice versa. Whenever she wasn't home, Cerberus would go sleep with Steve because Steve recognized him because of his shirts in Phantom's closet. If Phantom or Steve weren't at the Tower, but Tony was, Cerberus would go sleep with Tony if he had room within his bed. If no one was home, Cerberus would sleep on Phantom's couch to wait for Phantom to come home. Before Phantom walked in, she looked at Cerberus and requested, "Hey baby. Would you mind sleeping with Peter since Steve is staying the night tonight in my room?" Cerberus nodded at her, walked with Phantom to Peter's room door, opened the door enough for Cerberus to walk in, and when he did, Phantom shut the door. Cerberus jumped on the bed gently and snuggled up to Peter to give his body some warmth. Phantom went to her room to see Steve already in her bed under the covers, so Phantom walked to her side, and went under her covers. Phantom snuggled in to Steve, who wrapped his arm around Phantom and pulled her close to him. Phantom took off her mask, and threw it to her hamper across the room and laid on Steve's chest. After two months after Phantom came home from looking for the Winter Soldier, Phantom finally allowed herself to talk to Steve, whose old school ways charmed his way back to Phantom's side, who still didn't fully forgive Steve for allowing the Soldier to get away. It took about two weeks for Steve to work his way back to Phantom's side when she began to talk to him again, and she allowed him to sleep in her bed, and in another week for her to take off her mask when she slept.

Both of them slept until the sun rose a couple of hours later. Steve was the first to wake up, and when he got up, Phantom stirred herself awake, and asked, "Good morning, Steve. Do you want me to make you breakfast since I'm going to make Peter's some?" Steve smiled at her and asked, "Is Tony going to mind?" Phantom got up and stretched while replying, "As long as I bring him and the others breakfast, he should be fine. Plus even if he does, I'm not going to be here long because I gotta take Peter to school." Phantom put on a clean mask, put her hair into a sloppy bun, walked out towards Peter's room, and whispered to Cerberus who was sitting up, "Cerberus, let's go take a shower. Careful, do not wake up Peter." Cerberus carefully crawled out of Peter's bed and walked towards Phantom's room with her. Steve pet Cerberus good morning, and then went to the elevator to go to his room. Phantom and Cerberus took their shower and dried themselves off. Phantom put on a lacey blue halter-top bra with a pair of matching panties. Phantom put on a pair of blue Capri leggings, a white shoulder-less dress that went a little above her thighs, and a light blue body belt with white tracing. She also put on a pair of two-inch white heels that laced around her ankles. Phantom did a small braid to the back of her hair until she reached the middle of the back of her head, then put it into a pun. The rest of her hair was put into loose curls to make it have some volume. Phantom put on a light amount of makeup to give herself a glow up, and then put on a light blue facemask. Phantom put on Cerberus's matching light blue collar to match her outfit.

Phantom realized that it only took fifteen minutes to get around and she realized that she had only an hour and haft to get Peter up and get him to eat. Phantom went out of her room and then went to Peter's room. He was still asleep, so Phantom went to the side of the bed, sat down, and then shook him gently while stating calmly, "Peter. Hey Peter, honey. It's time to get up. After you get around, I'll have breakfast ready for you, okay?" Peter stirred awake slowly and nodded his head slowly at her. "Do you want my authentic family omelet soufflé with some toast and fruit? Or do you want funfetti cupcakes with meat, fruit, and toast?" Peter thought about it for a moment and responded, "I'll take the omelet, an apple, and some toast." Phantom smiled at his adorableness, kissed his forehead, and responded, "Okay. Now you need to get into the shower and get ready for school."

Phantom got off of Peter's bed while Peter got out of bed. Phantom went to her kitchen and she yelled out to JARVIS, "Okay, J. Ask everyone if they want breakfast and if so, what do they want." JARVIS asked to all of the Avengers and only Thor, Tony, and Steve answered yes. Thor wanted ham, sausage, bacon, her omelet, fruit, and a large liter of milk. Tony wanted her funfetti pancakes with a cup of oranges and milk. Steve wanted her omelet, a cup of fruit, and scotch. Phantom prepared all of the meat first, then the pancakes, the fruit, and drinks. Peter came out just as Phantom finished her first omelet that consisted of refried beans, homemade salsa, Monterey jack cheese, jalapenos, peppers, and lemon with lime. The omelet was fluffed up like a soufflé to make it larger than what it was. Phantom handed Peter some Tapatio hot sauce in case he wanted to put some on the omelet, which he puts so little on. Thor came up as Phantom finished off his meal and put it on a tray for him to take to her table to eat with Peter. Thor wore a dark red t-shirt with short sleeves and dark colored blue greens with dark red tennis shoes. His hair was put into a high man bun that always wanted to make Phantom laugh at him. Thor took the tray to his seat, and began to gobble up the meal. Steve came in to grab his tray that Phantom made for him and ate with the other two males.

Phantom put Tony's food onto a tray and went to deliver it to his lab. When she walked into his lab, Tony immediate smelled the pancakes and Phantom went over to his table. She put it on an empty lab desk and when Tony went over to it, he asked, "Umm… where's my scotch?" Phantom put her hand on her hips and replied, "Tony it's seven in the morning. Drink your milk and juice and when five in the afternoon hits, you can drink." Bruce came out of his corner and replied, "Finally someone else who is concerned about drinking this early in the morning. Now if you two could quit cold turkey, that would be amazing." Phantom brushed off what he stated and replied, "Yeah, we all both know that ain't gonna happen." Phantom kissed Tony's cheek, then Bruce's, and went up to her floor. After Phantom left, Bruce turned to Tony and asked, "Are you going to tell her about the Ultron Program?" Tony looked at him and replied, "No. It's better if she doesn't know. She'll come back for her own innovation for the staff, but that doesn't mean she needs to know what we're doing." Bruce sighed at Tony because he knew that when Phantom found out about the program and why Tony was doing it, she was going to flip out and it would start a fight between the two. Whenever Tony and Phantom fought, it always felt like civil war among the other Avengers. Everyone always took a side whenever the two Starks fought. Phantom wouldn't speak to Tony and go out to assignments without letting anyone else know why she was doing what she was doing.

Phantom returned back to her floor to see Steve cleaning the dishes and it made Phantom a little upset, so she asked, "Why exactly are you cleaning? You know I hate it when people clean up my messes." Steve shrugged his shoulders and replied, "I felt like since I ate the food, that I should clean it up. Now, you can go eat your food, then you can take Peter to school." Phantom was surprised by Steve's ordering tone and she had to admit, the tone kinda was a turn on for her. Phantom sat down, ate her omelet, fruit, and downed one glass of milk and another of apple juice. Once she finished, Phantom and Peter went to clean their dishes, but Steve took them from the teenagers and told Phantom, "Take him to school. I'll clean this up." Phantom smiled at him, nodded, grabbed her keys, and yelled, "Okay Peter. Grab your bags and I'll take you to your apartment so you can grab your backpack, then I'll take you to school." Peter grabbed bags and Phantom took him to his apartment, then took him to school.

When she returned, she went to Tony's lab, and asked, "Is it my turn with the Merlin's Staff yet?" Tony glanced over at her and replied, "Go for it, I guess. You get fifteen minutes for every hour. The other forty-five will be for Bruce and me." Phantom pulled out the strongest knife that she got on an assignment that came from Wakanda. Phantom grabbed the staff, put it on the table, put the blade against the metal of the staff at the end and pushed down as hard as she could. It took five minutes for her cut the metal off and when she did, the knife went into the desk. Phantom pulled out the knife and attempted to cut a piece of the orb at the top. She kept pushing down on it, and when she couldn't get it, Bruce and Tony helped her push down the knife. It took all three of them to put it through and after the knife went through the orb, the blade went through the table. Phantom took a minute to pull it out, and when she saw the time, she saw getting her samples took up all of her time. Phantom took her samples and yelled to the men, "This is all I'm gonna need. I'll see you guys in two days for the party. I'm going to lock myself in my lab, so don't even bother to try to come get me. AND TONY DON'T TRY TO SNEAK WITHIN CERBERUS'S DOGGYDOOR AGAIN!" Phantom went out of Tony's lab, took her samples to her lab, grabbed Cerberus and his collar, and took him for a walk. When Phantom returned, Phantom worked within her lab non-stop unless it was Cerberus pulling her out for food or a walk. Steve was the only other person to go get her, but he always knocked on the door and when she answered, he would carry her up to her room, or she would go willingly. This routine continued until the day of the party, so when it was time, Phantom knew that she needed to get ready.

Everyone was down in the soiree in the main lounge area, except for Phantom who was taking her time to get fully around. When she came out, everyone looked over to see her going down the stairs. She had on a lavender mermaid gown that had a lacey sweetheart neckline with lace straps on her biceps. The back had sheer and lace as did the tail of the dress. The dress hugged her every curve and moved to the swaying of her hips and bouncing of her breast. Her facemask was that of a belly dance and the exact same shade, but had fabric that was thick enough to hide her face. Her hair was swept to her right side and had curls to make it seem that her hair was a waterfall falling from her head. Her eyes had a smoky purple style to them and she had on long luscious eyelashes. Before Phantom fully made it down the stairs, Tony was waiting for her, extending his hand to help her down the rest of the stairs. When she was down the steps, Tony twirled her around and examined her dress and exclaimed, "Wow. Now isn't this a lovely dress? I think it looks fabulous, now go upstairs and change." Phantom put her hands on her hips, and responded, "Tony. It's a dress and I'm fully covered. Plus, it's really classy, I like it, and I don't want to redo my makeup." Tony crossed his arms while Phantom turned around to go associate with the other Avengers while waving goodbye to Tony.

Tony and Phantom grabbed a glass of champagne while they walked over to Thor and Rhodey, who was telling a War Machine story. When he finished, all three of the Avengers just gave him blank looks, so he tried to re-explain the joke and stated, "Why do I even talk to you guys? Everywhere else that story kills." Thor scoffed at the man and asked, "That's the whole story?" Rhodey responded yes, but Thor stated, "Well, it's very good then. It's impressive." Rhodey feeling insulted, took a shot to the men's masculinity, "Quality save. So, no Pepper? She's not coming." Tony answered blantly, and Maria asked about Jane and where were all of the older ladies. The men then tried to outdo each other by explaining the achievements that their girlfriends had achieved, so in the middle of their pissing contest, Phantom walked away while drinking some of the champagne.

Phantom walked over to Steve and Thor who were talking to elderly men at the party. As soon as she walked up, the one of the man exclaimed, "Hoohow. Wow, wow, wow. Isn't this a pretty young thing. Go ahead, honey. Do a little twirl and give us a full view." Phantom giggled at the perverted old man, and did a slow spin while raising her hands to give the men a full view of her curves while she stated, "Yes. I came to slay not play." All of the elderly man began to hoot and holler at her, until Steve glared at all of them to make them shut their traps. When they stopped admiring her, she looked to where they were looking and saw Steve glaring at them, so she giggled at his jealousy. She pulled herself up to Steve, while pulling him down to her, and softly grazed his cheek, and whispered, "Your opinion is the one I care about the most." Steve blushed profoundly and when Phantom saw Thor pour something into a drink, she asked, "Hey, big guy. Can I have a taste?" The elderly man stated, "I gotta have some of that!" Thor tried to steer them away by explaining, "Oh, no, no, no. See this, this was aged for a thousand years, in the barrels built from the wreck of Brunhilde's fleet, it's not meant for mortal men." Thor made two glasses, one for him and one for Steve. Steve brought it up to his nose to smell the concoction. He tasted it and he could taste the alcohol proof, and it made him cringe a little. Phantom took the glass from him, brought it to her lips, and tasted it for herself. As soon as it hit her, she took a step back, and whooped at the drink. "Ooooh. This is good. Thor, you should bring some back for me." Thor laughed at her reaction. Thor pours some of the drink into the elderly man's glass, and as soon as he drank it, the man got instantly drunk.

Phantom laughed as the elderly man's friend carried him out, and when she saw that she was out of champagne, she extended her arm to Steve, who took it, and they escorted each other to the bar, where Bruce and Natasha were. As the two approached the other two Avengers, they listened in to the conversation and heard Natasha flirting at Bruce, and Phantom squealed quietly while shaking Steve's arm. He looked down at her perplexed, and she exclaimed, "I ship them so hard. They're so cute." Steve smiled at Phantom's excitement, and when Natasha walked away Phantom walked with her to talk about the situation that just happened before her very eyes. While Phantom and Natasha had their "girl talk," Steve approached Bruce and exclaimed, "It's nice, isn't it?" Bruce was confused and Steve pointed out the couple before him. Bruce tried to say they Natasha just liked to flirt and when Steve stated that he's seen her flirt up close, and that wasn't it. Steve tried to explain that Bruce shouldn't wait, so Bruce shot back, "What about you and Phantom. You and she seem to be more close than Natasha and I, and you two make a great couple. I see the way you both look at each other. There is definitely something there." Steve smiled and stated quietly, "Maybe. We'll see what happens." Steve walked away and Bruce remembered something that Steve said, so he asked, "Wait… how close?"

The rest of the evening consisted of the Avengers associating themselves with the guest until all of the guest left, leaving all of the Avengers and Dr. Cho. Everyone was trying to figure out how Thor's hammer worked, but Clint tried to explain that it was a trick. Thor tried to tell them that it was more than that, and when Clint mocked him, Thor challenged all of the Avengers to try it. Clint was the first up and Tony mocked him by using a sexual innuendo, "Clint, you've had a tough week, we won't hold it against you if you can't get it up." Phantom was the first at Tony's comment. Clint tried to do and Tony commented, "Smell the silent judgment?" Clint challenged Tony to try it, and when Tony stood up, Phantom exclaimed, "Oh no. There goes his ego again." Everyone agreed with her, while Tony stated, "Never one to shrink from an honest challenged." Tony grabbed the hammer and asked, "So, if I lift it, I then rule Asgard?" Thor stated yes, and Tony went off to what he was going to do, "I will be re-instituting Prima Nocta. Phantom is highly excluded from this rule. She will also never to be married by my decree." Phantom made it seem that she was going to be sick and exclaimed, "That is so wrong. Hell no to Prima Nocta." When Tony couldn't do it, Rhodey and Tony had on Iron Gloves as they tried to pull up the hammer together. Bruce was the next to try, but he made a Hulk joke, that only Phantom giggled at as she explained, "What? He's so cute." Steve was the next to try and the hammer moved slightly, which made Thor looked worry, but when Steve couldn't lift it, he felt instant relief. Bruce suggested Natasha to do it, but she wouldn't do it and she positioned Phantom to do it. Phantom stood up from her spot, smoothed out her dress, and approached the hammer. Phantom focused lots of circular wind at the bottom of the hammer, and when she pulled up, she extended the wind up, causing the hammer to come up. Thor dropped his glass, and Phantom tried to conceal her fits of laughter. She slowly slowed the wind down to put the hammer on the table, and when she finished, Clint exclaimed, "Well, Thor, now you need to propose. Make her your queen." Both Tony and Steve yelled at the exact same time, "NO! OVER MY DEAD BODY!" Thor stood up, approached Tony, and asked, "Well, Man of Iron. Due to Asgardian custom to marry and Midgardian tradition to ask the father, I'm going to ask you. May I have your daughters hand in marriage?" Tony looked absolutely mortified and that caused Phantom to lurch forward laughing and state, "Guys, I… I… I didn't lift it. I used my abilities to push air under the hammer causing it to seem like I was able to lift it."

Tony looked so relieved at her statement and Tony explained that it's rigged. Clint agreed, "You bet your ass." Maria reported Tony's swearing to Steve, who was embarrassed by being known as the language critic. Tony tried to explain the hammer's way to identify Thor, but Thor replied, "That's a very, very interesting theory. I have a simpler one." Thor lifted the hammer, flipped it, and explained, "You're all not worthy." Everyone tried to disagree, until a screech rang out, causing everyone to cover their ears, until the sound died out. A poorly made Iron Legion soldier came up on them and began to speak, "Worthy… No… How could you be worthy? You're all killers." Steve asked Tony, who tried to activate JARVIS, but the soldier kept talking, "I'm sorry, I was asleep. Or … I was a-dream?" Tony tried to give orders, but the machine kept talking, "There was a terrible noise… and I was tangled in… in… strings. I had to kill the other guy. He was a good guy." Steve took a step forward and asked, "You killed someone?" The machine kept talking, but Phantom reached under the couch to grab her scythe that she had stored just in case something were to happen. Phantom grabbed the knife, next to the scythe, and she slowly sliced up her dress to give herself room to move if a fight broke out. She grabbed a gun, and slowly slipped off her heels until she heard Tony's voice coming from the robot, "I see a suit of armor around the world." Bruce called it Ultron and when it stated that it was on a mission, Natasha asked, "What mission?" It replied the peace of our time, and the Iron Legion came flying towards them. Phantom sliced down whenever any came towards her. Phantom saw the scepter being taken, so she sent wind currents around her form, and she shot out towards them as they flew away. When Phantom got close, several of the Iron Legion soldiers, who fought off her off as she tried to get them close. She pulled on her dressed causing it to rip, and bruise her up just a little bit, only for Ultron to get away with the scepter. When Phantom no longer could see Ultron, she flew saw Thor had caught up to her in his Asgardian attire and he asked, "Did they get away?" Phantom nodded her head at him and they both flew back to the Tower together.

When they got back, Thor walked towards Tony, grabbed his throat, and held him up. Clint joked about it, while Tony wanted Thor to use his words, but Phantom ran up, and pulled on Thor's arm while yelling, "THOR, THIS ISN'T HELPING! PUT HIM DOWN!" Thor slowly let go of Tony as Thor reported, "Trail went cold about a hundred miles out but it's headed north, and it has the scepter. Now we have to retrieve it, again." Everyone tried to understand Tony's motive, which only caused Tony to laugh. Thor asked threateningly, "You think this is funny?" Tony then went into a speech about why their world needed this, "Recall that? A hostile alien army came charging througha hole in space. We're standing three hundred feet below it. We're the Avengers. We can bust arms dealers all the live long day, but that up there. That's the end game. How were you guys planning on beating that?" Steve replied together, and when Tony tried to explain that they'll lose, Steve said that they would do that together too. Tony got into Steve's face and replied, "I'm not risking Phantom's life for that. That's why I build the program. I'm protecting my only child. I wanted the program so that way, she would never have to risk her life for something like that." Phantom walked up to Tony, put her hand on his arm, and explained, "Tony. I understand why you did what you did, but not consulting the rest of us was a mistake. I know you want to protect everyone, not just me. But you cannot do this alone, and neither can machines." Tony held her in his arms while shaking, and he explained, "I saw you all die. I just don't want that to happen." Phantom held on and replied, "Tony, if we work together, that won't happen. We're stronger together, rather than being apart." Phantom nodded her head and Steve, who went off his orders to try to find Ultron. Phantom went upstairs to go change from her damaged dress, and when she returned with Cerberus in her Avengers uniform, everyone was assembled to take off. When she asked where they were going, Tony answered, "Africa."

When Phantom landed the aircraft, Steve came up with the plan, and Phantom stated, "I'll stay with Bruce. This way nothing can set Hulk off. The rest of you go after the dealer. Everyone except for Phantom and Bruce went after Klaue and the vibranium. Phantom stored up her energy to get ready for a fight if need be. Bruce went outside to get himself some air and Phantom followed him out. She watched him act nervous asking if there was a need of Code Green, but no one answered. It took a couple more moments until Phantom heard quick footsteps approaching, Phantom gestured Bruce inside, and stated, "You are not to leave this aircraft. If I don't come back in five minutes, initiate code: Tim McGraw. Do you understand?" Bruce nodded his head and Phantom ran out to try to see the enhanced people approach. The enhanced male ran up on her and tripped her, but she got back on her feet and went out sweep him with her scythe. Pietro dodged her attack and asked, "Hey, hey, hey. Why so gruff? I thought this was going to be a welcomed reunion." Phantom remained quiet and held her stance, waiting for him to attack her. The man sighed and stated, "There's no snow here. Let's see you win this one without any water." Pietro tried to run, only to be shaken when Phantom punched the ground, causing it to crumble beneath them. Pietro used his speed to get close to her, grabbed her super slow form, threw her towards Wanda and her scythe to the other direction. When Phantom reached Wanda, Wanda used her abilities to dwell into Phantom's mind.

Phantom fell through a dark tunnel until she landed into a car seat and she was soaking wet. She looked over to see an old childhood friend stair back her. He looked just the way he did when she remembers seeing him last. He wore his sky blue soccer jersey with the black soccer shorts, black socks, and white shin guards. He head was still a dirty blonde that had a Justin Bieber look to it. His azure eyes stared at her with concern and he asked, "Victoria, are you okay? Did that hit against the soccer post do any damage to your brain?" Phantom shook her head no and asked, "No, Brandon. I'm fine. Where are we?" Brandon raised his eyebrow, and replied while reaching for her head, "My car for carpool. My mom's taking you home from the soccer game. Are you sure you're okay?" Phantom smacked his hand away and replied, "Yes, I'm fine." Phantom glanced outside to see a tremendous thunderstorm outside along with her own neighborhood. Phantom looked at this scene with fear and her breathing picked up. She shakeningly asked, "Brandon, what's today's date?" Brandon told her the date and her breathing stopped. This was the day that her family died. She was going to relive her worst memory. Brandon's mom pulled up to her old house, and when the van door opened, a gunshot rang from the house. Phantom's body moved on it's own as she yelled, "Mrs. R. Please call 911. I'm going to see what happened." Brandon's mom tried to yell at her to try to make her stay, but Phantom's body was already running to the house.

Phantom pulled open the door, to see her mother begging for her life. Her mother was all bloodied up from gun wounds, her blonde hair was all messed up and stained with her blood, and her normally gorgeous face was battened. Her older brother was the assailant. He had the same color of hair that she did, but he had cat eye's that had pure hatred within them unlike the rest of the family. He was seventeen years old and had hair that went to his shoulder. His body was semi-built with a beer gut. Her older brother was standing over their mother, and he pulled the trigger to end her life. Her brother pointed the gun over to father who was yelling at her to run, but Phantom ran over the shooter and tackled him to the ground, knocking the gun away from his grasp. Phantom wrestled with him as they both tried to get the gun while yelling, "How could you do this, Zacharias? WHY WOULD YOU DO THIS?! THEY LOVE YOU AND SO DO I! WHY?!" Zach wrestled with his sister, who was surprisingly strong, explained, "THEY DON'T LOVE ME! THEY ONLY LOVED YOU! I TRIED TO LOVE THEM, BUT WHEN THEY COULDN'T RECOPORATE IT BACK, IT WAS BECAUSE THEY WERE ADORING YOU! SO NOW SINCE I CAN'T BE THEIR NUMBER FAVORITE, I'M GOING TO BE THEIR BIGGEST PROBLEM!" Phantom punched him in the face, which made him grab his eye, so she took the time to grab the gun, and she whipped it around to knock him out.

Phantom heard mumbling coming near the couch, and when she looked over, she saw her father reaching out for her. Phantom ran over to her father, held him within her arms, and listened to him as he mumbled to her. Her father pointed to her mother was crying, "Victoria, honey. Please, don't blame Zacharias. He's not in the right mind. If only we loved him more and gave him the attention he deserved, he wouldn't have acted out the way he did. Please, forgive me. I love… both… of you… for… give… me…" Then her mother let out her dying breath. Phantom's father was the next to start mumbling, "Victoria. My beautiful Victoria. I'm not gonna make it, mija. I'm going to miss you. I'm so sorry that I'm going to miss your quincenera. I'm not going to be able to go to your college graduation. I'm sorry that I won't be able to walk you down the aisle when you get married. Marry someone who is going to makes you as happy as your mother made me. I know that you'll make all the right decisions in life. I know that you'll always make me and your mother proud. I love you, mija. I always have… do me… proud… I… love… you." Phantom felt her heart shattering before her as she watched the only man she ever loved dying right before her. She felt his heart pulse fading, but she yelled out of desperation, "YOU CAN'T LEAVE ME! YOU CAN'T LEAVE! PLEASE, OPEN YOUR EYES DAD! PLEASE! DAAAAAAAD!" As her father past his final breath, his muscles completely relaxed, and Phantom felt her whole world tear apart. She's mind went blank as the world around her began to shake and spike of water thrashed from the ground as she let out a bloodied scream, "AHHHHHH!"

Zacharias woke from the blood cry, saw that the mission he set out to do was finished, he gloated to her, "OH, HOW THE GREAT AND MIGHTY ENRIQUE AND CAROL RIOS HAVE FINALLY FALLEN! HOW GREAT ARE THEY NOW! SINCE THEY COULDN'T LOVE ME, THEY DON'T DESERVE TO LOVE EVERY AGAIN!" Phantom's mind went blank as she rose from her spot, walked over to Zacharias, pointed the pistol at him, and fire once. One she felt that pleasure of shooting her parents' killer, she fire again, and again, and again. She fired into his chest until the bullets ran out of the chamber. After the chamber was emptied, Phantom didn't feel satisfied, so she straddle the corpse, created a blade of blood and began to stab it, over and over again while screaming about how Zacharias was ungrateful, the devil, evil, a demon, and all sorts of other bad insults that she could think of. After stabbing the body over a hundred times, she finally stopped, her body was limp, until her conscious came back. She looked down to her hands, saw that they were covered in blood, as was she. She then looked down to the corpse and saw all of the holes within the body, then the knife, and she put two and two together. She put her bloodied hands to both sides of her head and yelled out of depravity. Her abilities surged out once more even greater than before. The rain falling became as hard as stone, the earth broke beneath her, and then great thorn patches grew from ice.

Phantom let out another roar, only to feel her body shake as she came back from her memories. She was still gripping her head, all of her emotions that she pushed into the back of her mind, were hitting her all at once, and she was shaking. She was breathing heavily while rocking herself back and forth. She heard another roar coming from the distance, judging by the frequency, it was a large beast and from the sound quality, it was angry. Phantom listened to her comm and she finally heard Tony, "PHANTOM, I NEED YOU! WHAT HAPPENED?! WHERE ARE YOU?!" Phantom slapped her face as hard as she could to snap her out of her panic attack. She ran to her scythe, and flew into the sky with her Iron Boots while replying, "Witchy got into head. Where's Banner?" Tony told her where she to go and she flew to where he instructed. Phantom arrived on the scene to see Hulk freaking out and destroying everything within his path. Phantom slashed a water truck container to create some muddy water, and when Hulk ran to her, Phantom shot up the water to wrap Hulk within water binds.

Phantom went around him, wrapped the scythe staff around his neck, and held on her dear life as he tried to thrash her off. Hulk jumped into building to try to smash Phantom off. He even rolled around to put his weight on top of his capturer. Phantom felt her bones breaking, such as some of her ribs and her legs, but she knew that she had to hold on until Tony and the Hulkbuster to show up. Hulk reached to his back to try to pull Phantom off, but she managed to move out of his grasp, until he grabbed her before she could move and threw her into a single story building. She went through and felt more of her bones breaking and rubble penetrating her body. Phantom looked around to see people within the building and she saw that the building was about to come down, so she stood up on her broken legs, which put her in excruciating pain. She threw her hand ups and used her terrakinesis to uphold the building and the opening while yelling at the people to get out of that building. When she thought that couldn't understand her, she began to yell in all of the African languages that she knew to get them out as quickly as she could. All of them ran out, except for a single girl who stopped at the opening. Phantom saw the fear and concern within the little girls eyes. Phantom heard Hulk roar and could hear him running towards her location, so she ran to the little girl, grabbed her and threw her away to an open area away from the Hulk's rampage. When Phantom recovered from the throw, the Hulk ran to her, tackled her, and the building fell upon them causing Phantom to scream in pain. It unphased Hulk, but the rubble was crushing Phantom. As the rubble fell on top of her crushing her, the Hulk was hitting and smashing her as well. People could hear Phantom screaming for Bruce to snap out of it and stop, while writhing as she and her bones were being crushed. After Hulk beat on her for a couple of minutes, Hulk went away from her and looked at Tony's distraction and ran towards it. Tony flew down to where he knew where Phantom's location was. Tony tried to dig her out, but she mumbled, "Tony… go get… Bruce. I'll be okay. People are in danger. Go, before he does something that he might regret." Tony thought over his option and flew to go get Bruce.

While Tony went after Bruce, Phantom was left alone, she thought back to her worst memory and the life choices she made. She thought about her mother and father. How they were so kind and gentle, yet the perished such a tragic end. She thought about her life vow on how she was going to find the people who caused the tragedy of her family. She knew that she almost had him, only to be blinded by trying the achieve something that she lost a long ago, a normal life with an actual family. She felt happy and bliss with the Avengers for the first time since her parents death. Phantom let a lone tear fall from her face, because she felt that she was trying to replace her dead family for the Avengers. She was in so much pain, and she thought this was the pain that her family went through when they were dying. She remembered the Soldier, and how he got away from her. He was one of the causes of her current fate. She looked up to the clear blue sky and thought of the clear sunny days that she once spent with her family. The more she remembered the more it made her feel like a failure. She kept crying and she spoke out to the sky, hoping that the message to her parent's souls, "Mom. Dad. Zacharias. I'm so sorry. I failed you all. I'm letting your murderers get away, even though I've killed so many people to keep that from happening, and I'm so sorry. I'm sorry that I didn't live up to your expectations. I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry."

After Tony knocked out Hulk, he took Bruce's body to the aircraft, and flew back to where Phantom was. Tony dug Phantom out of the rubble and he saw her, he knew that the condition was bad. Phantom's eyes were glassy and she looked to be writhing in pain. Tony picked up her body gently, and when he felt it, it almost made him sick. He saw blood just flowing out of her body, her bones with shifting and not completely solid, and that even when he picked her up gently, she whimpered in pain. "Phantom, you're going to be okay. We'll get you some medical help, and you're going to be okay. You're going to make it through this okay? JARVIS, I need an immediate emergency medical staff now!" Tony exclaimed while holding Phantom. Phantom couldn't see clearly anymore, but she looked to giant blur that looked to be in front of her and she stated softly, "I can't see your face anymore, Tony." Tony held her close, as she continued, "Call me… Victoria. Keep… helping everybody, okay?" Tony held her and tears were streaming down his face as his heart broke by seeing his beloved daughter before him dying within his arms. "Victoria, you can still go yourself. I know, after we stop Ultron, we can all go back to Disney World. Remember, we had so much fun? Victoria." Phantom eyes closed a little and she replied, "You'll all have to do it… for me… kay? Daddy." Tony heard JARVIS explain that no medical teams were close enough and that Phantom's heartrate was dropping dramatically. Tony looked at her with desperation and pled, "Please, Victoria. NO, DON'T GO!" Phantom shut her eyes and replied, "I've been so happy… that I… met you all… My name… is… Victoria… Carmen… Rios… stark…" And Phantom passed out as a lone tear ran down her face. Tony shook her and kept yelling at her to wake up without fully making out any words. A lone little girl came forward and stated cautiously, "Mr. Stark. My name is Shuri, and I know where to take Phantom to get the healing she needs, but she needs to go alone. I'm sorry." Tony only held Phantom within his arms, but when he knew that this might be her only chance, Shuri's guardian came up, scooped up Phantom, and took her away from Tony who was only on the ground crying and watching them take his only daughter away.

After the Avengers took out Ultron, all of the Avengers went back to the Tower. All of them were wearing black and mourning over the loss of Phantom. Tony went to his computer and looked up the name Victoria Carmen Rios. He found videos of a child prodigy. It was a little girl with azure eyes, olive skin, and dark long hair. Tony clicked on one of the videos and saw the little girl playing the violin, reciting monologues, another of her dancing ballet, playing the cello, piano, singing, solving advance math questions, chemical formulas, and even some of her in sports teams. One video showed her with two adults. One man who looked to be Latin with bluish green eyes. The woman was a blonde hair bombshell that Tony recognized. He asked, "Isn't that Carol Muse-Rios, the Broadway actress and music prodigy?" Tony pulled up another computer screen and looked her up with her family. He saw that she had two beautiful children in the photo. The son looked to be in his mid to late teens while the daughter didn't even look to be in her preteens yet. Tony read further and realized who she was married to, so he read it out loud, "Enrique Rios? The Genetic Mutation Hydrokinetic Doctor? That's her dad?" Tony instantly felt terrible. He had them both in the exact same place at the exact same time, but they didn't recognize each other. Tony looked up "Rios Family Tragedy," and he found a newspaper article. The family was said to be murdered by the eldest son, but many think that the youngest daughter was the one to blame since she was the only survivor. The youngest daughter was said that she died during a burning building a week after her family's funeral. Tony printed off the address of the location and yelled to the Avengers, "Guys, we're going on a trip."

Everyone got into one of the aircrafts, and Tony flew them out to a small town in Indiana. The town was an hour south from Fort Wayne, Indiana and it was really tiny and not well known at all. Tony flew to the town hall and asked one of lawyers walking out of the town hall building, "Excuse me, could you point me to the old Rios house?" The man stiffed up and replied, "That house is haunted. It's at the south side of town. You can't miss it. There are a bunch of spike coming from it and surrounding it. There are also fenced in, so you won't be able to get in anyway." Tony nodded his head, went to the aircraft, and flew it to the south side of town. He found a lone large two-story house that was completely fenced in with signs surrounding it. The signs had all types of insults on them about the cursed Rios Family. They called them demons, devils, freaks, weirdos, and all other types of insults. Tony parked inside of the fence, and they all observed the area. There was horns of stone, the ground was broken before them, and the ground also had a bunch of holes in it. They went into the house to see that the living room had holes everywhere, with bloodstains and mold. Tony looked at the overall color scheme and style and realized that it resembled Phantom's main floor living room to a near tee. All of the Avengers looked around, but when they asked why they were there, Tony turned around and stated, "This is the home of our own Phantom. This is where she grew up, and where her life went off track. She lost her family here. That's what caused all of this destruction. The tragedy of the Rios Family. The messed up part of this whole situation. There were two survivors. The only daughter Victoria Carmen Rios-Stark and the father Enrique Rios. Neither of them knew that each other were alive. The father is still alive, but the daughter might be gone for forever. And it's all my fault." Tony crouched down and went into a blubbering mess about Phantom and the fact that since he hasn't heard about or from her, that he, as were the other Avengers, were assuming that she was dead, little did they know, she wasn't.

Phantom eyes shot open as her body whithered in the most excruciating pain that she had ever felt in her life. She had been beaten, burned, electrified, and nearly tortured to death, but nothing compared to the extreme burning sensation she felt within her body. With the burning sensation, she felt a soreness unlike any other that she had felt ever in her body. She felt like glass shattering underneath heat and pressure. She tried to raise her right arm, but when she felt the pain of just preparing her muscles to move, she immediately halted her actions and chose to just sit and lie in her agony. Phantom lied there for a moment, until a little girl approached her to the side. Phantom shifted her sight to the little girl before her and she remembered her from Hulk's rampage. Phantom open her mouth to speak, and she asked slowly hoarsely, "You're that little girl from the coast village. The one that froze at the opening, before Hulk showed up. Are you all right? Where are we?" Phantom shifted her eyes around to see that she was in advance lab that was surround by some type of glowing rock mine. The little girl moved her bracelet above Phantom's form to get a full analysis of her broken form, while explaining while giggling with a very thick accent, "It is very funny that you are so concerned for me, when you were the one who died. My name Shuri and I am the Princess of Wakanda. You are currently in my lab in the capital city." Phantom furrowed her eyes in confusion of the girl and asked, "I died? How can I be speaking to you then?" Shuri pulled her bracelet away after it finished scanning and she put it on a 3D projection of Phantom's body. The projection went into an x-ray and it showed many red spots all over Phantom's body, but none of the bones were broken. Shuri explained, "You died three times. Once when we brought you in. Second in the middle of surgery, and the third after you had eaten the fruit of the panther. Your bones were crushed down into fine minerals until I submerged you the sacred healing baths in the north. That's why you're sore. Your muscles are trying to get use to your enhanced bones. Even with the healing baths and the fruit, I'm astonished that your body has heal as fast as it did. It might be due to your already altered genetics, but still this nothing that I have ever seen before." Phantom remained confuse by the young girls explanation, but she was too tired to even bother to try asking.

Phantom heard another set of footsteps approach the two and Phantom saw that it was an older African man with gray features. Phantom could tell that time had taken it's toll on the poor man as she saw sadness, guilt, proudness, and fierceness within his eyes. Phantom recognized him from newsfeeds, so she asked quietly, "King T'chaka?" The man smiled at her, nodded, touched her shoulder as light as he could, and replied, "I am forever in your debt. You saved my only daughter from perishing from the crumble of the buildings, so I thank you." Phantom returned her own smile, and replied, "No, it was nothing. I'm an Avenger. It's part of the job requirements. Plus, we were part of the reason why Hulk rampaged, so you don't owe me any debts." A young man approached them next and said his peace, "No. Wakanda forever owes you for saving our top scientist and only Princess. I, Prince T'challa, wish to also thank you personally. If not for your self-sacrifice, my sister would be…" Before he could finish, Phantom felt her stomach flip around several times, so she lurched up, went over the side, and began to throw up. She threw up glowing purple junk along with her own blood. After she threw up, she passed out on the table, her body was thrashing around, as she let out a blood gurgling scream while the earth shook. The medical team ran forward with the Panther fruit, T'chaka ordered them to keep her mouth open as he forced the fruit into her throat. After she swallowed, her body thrashed around even more as she kept yelling, and the earth began to grow spikes. After a few minutes of this, T'chaka put his hand on her forhead to keep it still and he advised, "Why are you running? Do not fight your past. You must embrace it, or you will always be blind and never move forward."

Inside of Phantom conscious, she was at an African Savannah late at night. The sky was dark with purple streaks and the ground was a normal orangish sand with little speck of purple within them. Phantom looked over to a tree and saw several large black panthers lying on the tree watching her. She looked down to see that she wore all white robes, her hair was down, and her facemask was gone. She heard growling coming from behind her, and when she turned around she saw a giant brown wolf bearing its fangs at her. The wolf lunged forward towards her, and she and it went into a death match. Phantom tried to pin the wolf down and read its mind, but it always managed to escape her grasp. Phantom the sixth time of trying this, the beast tried to go for Phantom's throat, but she managed to jump away and then she ran from it to gain some ground and give herself a moment to think. In the corner of her eye, she saw one of the panthers stand up, sat, and remained on the branch. She then heard the panther speak with the voice of King T'chaka, "Why are you running? Do not fight your past. You must embrace it, or you will always be blind and never move forward." Phantom stopped running, looked back, and saw the wolf slowly transformed into the Winter Soldier. Phantom, who had just relived her worst memory, felt instant hatred for the Soldier, so she charged forward, wish to fight the solider once again. The Soldier grabbed both of arms and held her, and when she finally looked into the Soldier eyes, his formed changed once again into James Buchannan Barnes, the man he used to be before HYDRA. She saw sadness, fear, and guilt deep within his eyes, and when she saw his arms, she saw strings that led into the sky and when she focused, she saw that where the strings led, she saw a HYDRA mask. Bucky embraced her, the panthers jumped down from the trees, circled around Bucky and her, and roared together causing Phantom to come back to reality.

Phantom's body had stopped glowing and her powers also stopped surging. Everyone gathered around the young girl and they saw that one of her eyes had changed color. Her left eye that had once had the color of blue, was turned to blood stain red. Phantom sat up and she felt that her body was loose, relaxed, and all of the previous soreness and pain had fluttered away. She turned to the people watching her move, and asked, "What happened? What did you do?" T'chaka walked up to her, presented the fruit to her, and replied, "This is the fruit of the Panther. It is an enhancing fruit that only the royal family can consume, but we made an exception for you saving Shuri." Phantom realized that the kind family had saved her life, so she did what she thought would be appropriate. Phantom got off of the table, went down on one knee, placed a closed fist to her heart, and proclaimed, "I humbly thank you for saving my life. Now, it belongs to you. I promise on my waking breath, I will serve you until the day I die fighting for you." T'Challa tried to exclaim that it wasn't necessary, but T'Chaka interrupted him, and ordered, "Since you will serve us and you are an international figure: you will become our eyes to the world. Anything that happens, you will immediately report it to us. You will be a Wakandan Citizen and Spy. You will keep our secrets, and when you reach your time, you will retire to become an advisor to my son in the future. Do you understand my orders?" Phantom nodded her head at his command, and replied, "Yes, my king. Your will is my command." Phantom raised her head at him and asked, "My Liege, if I may be so bold to ask: What happened to Dr. Banner, the Avengers, and Ultron?" All of the people looked at each other and the king replied, "Ultron was defeated in Sokovia. Dr. Banner went missing, and you will declared dead since none of them heard anything about you since the incident. It's been three months since then, and you've been here recovering. You may leave to go see them if you wish, but you must report back to me when you do." Phantom nodded her head at him, got her supplies, and left to go find the other Avengers.

Phantom flew near the location in the middle of the woods. Phantom grabbed the motorcycle, and drove near the new Avengers base that she found out about on the flight back. Phantom parked the car at the end of the woods near the opening of the Avengers base. Phantom made a campout on a tree to overlook the scene before her. She saw Tony, Thor, and Steve walk out of the base. She heard them talk about some things called the Infinity Stones and how someone was going to try to empower themselves. Thor left to go find out what was happening and left Tony and Steve to talk. Phantom absorbed the conversation while observed the behavior of the two men. Tony didn't have a pep in his step anymore and Phantom heard that he was making memorials and scholarships in her memory. Steve tells Tony that he's going to miss him, but Tony stated that he might try to take a page out of Clint's book and build a farm. Steve asked the simple life, and when Tony stated that Steve would going to get there someday, Steve contradicted him. "I don't know, family, stability. The guy who wanted all that went in the ice seventy-five years, then lost that chance when the person he could have shared his life with died a terrible death. Someone else came back from Africa, someone who doesn't want to get hurt again." Tony gave him a bro hug and replied after going into his car, "She's always going to be with us, Steve. You gonna be alright?" Steve nodded and replied, "I'm home."

Phantom watched Tony drive off, and she decided that she would go talk to him after she observed the current Avengers and reported to her king. Phantom watched Steve go into the building, so instead of deciding to just walk in, she snuck inside to go see the "team." She didn't know what kind of team it would be since it wouldn't have her, Hulk, Tony, or Thor. Phantom snuck through the vents to see the team assemble in the area, and when she saw them, she felt confusion and betrayal from Steve. There was a Rhodey in a War Machine suit, Sam in his Falcon Wings, a purple robot, and the little witchy that curse Bruce. Phantom was about to jump out of the vents to go after her, but she stopped knowing that she needed to report to her king. Phantom continued to observe the team for the next two weeks, and she saw Steve interacting with Natasha and the little witchy like the way he used to interact with her. She felt that Steve had replaced her, and so did Tony. Tony treated Wanda like his own daughter, just like he used to treat her. Phantom made her report to her king, and when she was alone, she made her proclamation. "Why should I act like the way I should? They moved on without me, so just like my king suggested, I need to move on as well. You broke your promise to me, so now I can break my promises to you." She remembered that Tony made her promise to never cut her hair short and so did Steve. Phantom grabbed her scythe that Shuri had given her, grabbed her hair, and cut it down to her shoulder blades while part of her hair covered her right blue eye. She then took out her cellphone and made a call to one of her oldest mercenary friends. When he answered the call, she asked while walking to her jet, "Sun Wukong. Find me an assassination assignment."

Phantom's Ballet Outfit: pin/428193877043282499/

Phantom's Pajamas: pin/512636370078606784/

Phantom's Apron: pin/552113235542279917/

Phantom's Tower Outfit: pin/181973641177084216/

Phantom's Dress: pin/516014069795802460/

Phantom's Hair: .

Phantom's Eye Makeup: pin/436989970085853479/


	10. Civil War

Ross had no option anymore. After he saw the incident within Lagos, Nigeria, he knew that he needed to get someone who could get the Avengers to sign. Whether they wanted to or not. He grabbed his cellphone and called a young assassin who grew her reputation within a year on her own. She was impossible to hire due to how high her rates were, but Ross knew that this assassin would resemble a young girl who the Avengers might have responded to. The phone rang three times until a female voice answered the phone, "You have three minutes. State your name, your assignment, your target, your reason to call me, and when I can start." Ross was taken back by the demanding tone of the woman. "My name is Thaddeus Ross. I want to persuade some people to sign a legal document by whatever means necessary. I called you because you resemble someone who they would have listened to last year. If you could start as soon as possible, that would be great. I'll pay you per head." The woman asked as if she had a short fuse, "You forgot the targets, Secretary Ross." The man remained quiet and replied, "The Avengers. I know you don't do non-assassination assignments, Strigoi, but if they don't sign and all else fail. I'll need you to hunt them down." The woman on the other side phones rang, so she replied, "I'll call back in a minute with my answer." She hung up on him and answered her phone, "My liege?" King T'Chaka laughed on the other side from the woman's serious tone. "Phantom…" The woman interrupted him, "I told you before, my liege. It's Strigoi now, not Phantom. Phantom died last year, remember?" The king sighed at the young woman, and answered, "Okay, Strigoi. I'm going to send you to America to convince the Avengers to sign an accord for the United Nations." Strigoi nodded her head over the phone and responded, "Yes, my liege. If they don't sign it, I'll hunt them down personally." Strigoi hung up the phone and called back Secretary Ross, who answered immediately, "Yes." Strigoi stated her part of the bargain, "I want one million per Avenger, no restrictions on my methods, nor complaint/fee taken on destruction. I also want rights to first interrogations with anyone involved. Finally, I will not sign those accords, unless my king orders me to." Ross thought over his options, and agreed to her terms. Strigoi told him that she would be in New York within an hour, so he scheduled an appointment with Tony Stark and the Avengers in an hour.

Strigoi hung up her cellphone on Secretary Ross, went to her closet, and picked out an outfit that would make her look like a total different person than the person that they used to know. She put on a tight black leather skirt, a black push-up bra, with a mesh shirt that has long sleeves. She put on her standard facemask, combed her hair upper back length hair over her azure eye so that way only her red eye could have been seen. She put a pair of three-inch stiletto thigh high suede boots. After she checked herself out in the mirror and approved her image, she grabbed her bad full of weapons and went down to her black 2015 Porsche 918. She listened to Evanescence songs as she sped to her way to the Avengers facility. When she arrived, she saw Secretary Ross in the front of the building waiting for her, and when she parked, she stepped out, and walked with him inside of the building where Tony was supposed to be. When they were outside of the meeting room, Strigoi stated that she was going to wait outside until she thought that she was ready. While Strigoi went to walk around, Vision went ot go to report to Steve about the guest that were visiting them. Vision materialized through the wall, and Wanda stated, "VIS! We talked about this." Vision was very confused and tried to reason, "Yes, but the door was open so I assumed that… Captain Rogers wished to know when Mr. Start was arriving." Steve thanked Vision, who replied, "I'll… use the door. Oh, and apparently, he's brought two guest." Steve asked, "We know who they are?" Vision replied, "The Secretary of State, and an assassin." Steve and Wanda just looked at each other questioningly.

After Ross's speech about golf, the glass door behind him opened and a lone woman with straight dark hair that went in between her shoulder blades sashayed in. Everyone saw that she was exposing so much skin and was seemed to be dressed as a prostitute. She clapped as she sashayed while exclaiming, "Not that I don't enjoy a good golf, Secretary Ross. But we need to get to the matter at hand. The Avengers are dangerous, unstructured, group of vigilantes who ignore sovereign borders and inflict their will wherever they choose and who, frankly, seem unconcerned about what they leave behind." Tony, Steve, Natasha, and Rhodey rose from their seats, until she narrowed her lone eye and ordered, "Sit down. Romanov, you should know better by now. Especially with that scar you have in side." Natasha was the first to sit, but when Steve tried to approach the girl, she pulled out a lone knife, threw it to where his next step was going to be, repeated slower, and with venom in her voice, "Sit down, Captain." Steve wanted to push forward, but Natasha pulled him down to sit and mouthed, "Later." Steve nodded his head at her and sat within his seat. Tony sat down next, while exclaiming, "Please continue."

Secretary Ross turned on the projector and announced, "New York." The projected should a Chitauri leviathan, terrorized citizens, a soldier firing a gun, and finally Hulk smashing into a building and send a cloud to engulf the camera. Strigoi took a deep breath as she watched the Hulk smash, not wanting to show any emotion for seeing the Hulk smash. "Washington DC," the projector turn to the Insight helicarriers, firing on each other, then a helicarrier crashing into the Potomac and throwing a massive wave, engulfing citizens and the camera. Strigoi watched the Avengers and saw Sam look down in guilt. The image changed at a city rising and a building falling over, "Sokovia." Strigoi watched as Wanda and Tony watched with full intention. "Lagos," the imaged change to a burning building, paramedic moving a body, and a dead little girl. Wanda moved her head away from the image, which caught Steve's attention, so he stated, "Okay. That's enough." Strigoi moved forward slightly, slammed her hands against the table and proclaimed, "You're right, Cap. This has been enough. As for the imagery, there is far more. Why not see the sins you've all committed?" Cap was about to rise because of the woman's challenge, but Natasha held his knee to keep him down. Ross touched Strigoi's shoulder as his signal to make her back off, so she did and he continued. "For the past four years, you've operate with unlimited power and no supervision. That's an arrangement the governments of the world can no longer tolerate. But I think we have a solution." Strigoi took the thick book from the aide, and tossed to Wanda while looking at her with prosecuting eyes. Ross discussed what the book was and what it means. Steve tried to question the Accords, until Strigoi asked, "Tell me, Rogers. Do you know where exactly Thor, Banner, and Phantom are right now?" Steve looked up to her eyes, but Ross told them, "You have three days from now. The UN meets in Vienna to ratify the Accords. Talk it over, and if you have any comments, questions, or concerns discuss with this lovely creature, Strigoi. I hired her to converse with you all, just in case you needed some convincing. Strigoi, make sure they either sign it or the retirement paperwork." The young woman called Strigoi nodded her head at him, stated "Yes, sir," and continued to watch the Avengers. Secretary Ross then walked out of the room leaving all of the supers to discuss.

When he left, Strigoi sat at the head of the table, crossed her legs, held her hands on the table, and asked stoically, "Any questions?" Steve was the first to rise, so he asked, "Why did you change your name? Where the hell have you been? WHY DIDN'T YOU COME BACK?!" Strigoi kept her usual stoic expression, "My name fits who I am. Where I have been is none of your concern. As for coming back, you didn't need me. You found perfect replacements, so since you didn't need me, I went back to doing what I did best: assassination." Tony was the next to rise and he proclaimed, "We didn't replace you. We thought you died. I tried to contact you and whoever took you away, but after months of hearing nothing, I assumed the worst. Why would you go back to assassinating when you were clean?" Strigoi kept her posture and replied, "As I stated, it's what I knew best. If you didn't replace me, why is she here?" Strigoi point at Wanda. Strigoi continued, "She turned Bruce into a killing machine. She corrupted him to attack us, and actually kill me. I died three times within two hours, and the guilt of my death, caused Bruce to leave. You made your choices, and I made mine. I'm not here to talk about my past, I'm here to talk about your future." Steve tried to change back the subject, but Strigoi raised her hand, and stated, "We need to focus at the topic at hand. The Accords, after you all sign, then we can talk about me."

Rhodey was the next to rise stating why they should sign, only to have Sam counter him. Vision offered up his equation by stating, "I'm saying there may be a causality. Our very strength invites challenge. Challenge incites conflict. And conflict… breeds catastrophe. Oversight… oversight is not an idea that can be dismissed out of hand." When everyone tried to state that Tony already made up his mind, Phantom added, "That. And he's nursing a hangover. We're you out too late, Stark?" Tony mumbled, "If I would have known you were coming, I would have drank before coming here." Tony then addressed Steve by talking about a Charles Spencer. When Steve tried to give Tony a pep talk about not giving up, Strigoi countered, "So, since I've been assassinating again, that means I shouldn't stop?" Steve glared at her and replied, "If we don't take responsibility for our actions, we are giving up. This document just shifts the blame." Steve tried to argue with Tony and Rhodey about how they needed to take handle themselves because they deserved that right to choose. Tony stated, "If we don't do this now, it's gonna be done to us later. That's the fact. That won't be pretty. That's why you're here, isn't it, Strigoi?" Strigoi looked straight up to Tony, stood up, pulled out a box of needles, took out a single needle, and explained while observing the lone needle, "This needle is laced with Botulinum Toxin. 1 nanogram per kilogram can kill a single human. I was ordered that I am to give you two options: Sign the Accords or sign the retirement papers. If you choose make a third option, I am to hit you with these needles, so that you won't cause any more harm. If I didn't have my life mission, I would hit myself with these needles, but unfortunately I can't die just yet. Not until I get my vengeance. So have any of you made up your minds yet?" Everyone looked at her with fear in her eyes, each with different reasons. Natasha brought the conversation by talking about how if they signed it, they would still partially be in control. Tony tried to lighten the by talking about how it was astonishing that Natasha was agreeing with him, which made Strigoi want to smile, but she wouldn't allow herself.

While Tony was having his moment, Steve's phone went off to explain that Peggy had passed in her sleep. Steve got up to leave and when Strigoi saw him rise, she stoically stated, "Is this how a leader supposed to act? Leave in the middle of an important decision? You are the captain of this team. If you leave now without making a decision, you will leave me no choice. Set an example for your team and decide." Steve just glanced over to the stone cold woman before him and just chose to walk out. Strigoi got out to follow Steve who was at the end of the staircase. Strigoi saw him bowing his head, and when she saw mourning within his eyes, she turned her back, and stated, "I'll find you if you don't sign it. Don't make it do it, Steve." Strigoi went out the door to go try to convince the other Avengers.

Steve went to the Peggy's funeral. He carried her coffin for the ceremony. When Sharon Carter went to the podium and talked about how Peggy would tell him not to give up, the cathedral doors flew open to reveal Strigoi walking in with all black short leather dress with buckles going up to her neck. She had on fishnet stockings and knee high leather stiletto boots. She walked in with a challenging look within her eyes. She clapped slowly as she sashayed inside, and she spoke, "Beautiful speech, absolutely beautiful. Very inspiring, considering… well… A Carter giving that." Everyone was taken back by Strigoi's direct assault on the Carter name, as she continued, "Carters… servants of justice, yet you speak as even though something possibly illegal, if the person believes it's right, you could do it without any repercussions. Oh that is a laugh. For this woman, her own niece, to disgrace the name of Margaret Carter, a justice supervisor, by stating that breaking the law is right if it is for your own selfish gain and self-justice. Sharon Carter, you are a disgrace upon every legal system and a hypocrite to every criminal you ever locked up. And if by any chance, Margaret felt the same, I will spit upon your family name." Strigoi floated into the air and sat down on the balcony edge. Everyone looked at her with absolute disgust in their eyes, which only made Strigoi grow a bigger cocky smirk, as she moved her hand, and stated as if nothing was wrong, "Continue." After the ceremony, Strigoi waited until everyone except for Steve to leave, and finally jumped down. Steve walked up to her menacingly and asked, "What is the matter with you? That was not the place nor the time to hint at the Accords." Strigoi held her stoic eyes and replied, "I told you to sign them before I had find you. Now I did something that you regret. Plus, I meant EVERY word that I said. This was just beginning Steve. Sign the Accords, and I'll stop." Strigoi pivoted to leave until Steve grabbed her, turned her around, and asked, "WOULD YOU PLEASE STOP THIS?! THIS ISN'T YOU AND YOU KNOW IT!" She held a glare and responded, "I have a job to do. I'm going to finish and you KNOW that." She pulled away from him, pulled out a large stack of paper work from her purse, handed it to Steve, and then walked of the cathedral while Natasha was walking in. Before they crossed, Natasha turned to the side to give Strigoi more room to leave, and she stated while walking past her, "Good. You still remember, keep that memory in mind later."

Strigoi strolled into the UN gathering room with all the sashay that she could muster within her hips. She felt all types of eyes on her and she felt herself so much. She wore a sexy tight black cocktail dress that can look so professional. She also wore sparkling stiletto heels while she put her hair into a high work bun with natural makeup. Strigoi walked up to T'Challa, did a small bow, and stated, "Your majesty." T'Challa waved his hand and replied, "Please, no formalities between us. How are you, Phantom?" Strigoi sighed and replied, "It's Strigoi now. Remember that. Seems like a good turnout." T'Challa nodded his head and they saw Natasha sign some papers. T'Challa thanked her, and made polite conversation, until King T'Chaka walked towards the group. Strigoi went down on one knee, bowed her head, with her fist to her heart, and greeted, "You're Grace." King T'Chaka instructed her to rise, so she did while King T'Chaka conversed with Natasha. When the man on the speakers told everyone to take their seats, Strigoi chose to stay close to T'Challa, during T'Chaka's speech. When Strigoi saw concern in T'Challa's eyes, she glanced outside to see a bomb about to go off, so without warning, she raised a large wall of stone to protect the assembly, while T'Challa yelled, "EVERYBODY GET DOWN!" The bomb went off, Strigoi followed her assignment protocol to protect T'Challa under T'Chaka's orders. She pulled T'Challa down, formed another shield of stone to protect T'Challa as the rubble went down. After the destruction fell, she let T'Challa out. He ran to his father's body, Strigoi cut her hand, and went to heal him, but when she saw his form, she saw that his heart stopped. One of her newest abilities allows her to see the blood stream and heart without her trying. This trait came after she ate that special fruit from Wakanda. Strigoi reached her hand forward to try to restart his heart, but when it wouldn't pump on its own when she stopped, she glanced at T'Challa, who had scared hope in his eyes, and only shook her head to signalize that the king was gone. T'Challa held onto his father's body as close as he could and rocked him within his arms. Strigoi immediately felt the pain that she experience when she lost her father and she felt sympathy towards her new king.

After a letting T'Challa have his grieving moment, Strigoi put her hand on his shoulder and stated, "T'Challa. We need to go. I'll get your father's body to Wakanda, but you need to get checked by paramedics. I'm sorry, but we gotta move, now." It took T'Challa a couple of moments, but eventually he relentantly let go of the body, and Strigoi took the body to the aircraft going to Wakanda, used all the water in the bottles that she stores within the aircraft, had it surround her deceased kings body, and froze it to preserve it. After she got off to walk over to her new king, she saw him sitting on a bench, so she sat down next to him, and Natasha walked up on the two. "I'm very sorry," Natasha began. While playing with his ring, he responded to her, "In my culture, death is not the end. It's more of a… stepping-off point. You reach out with both hands and Bast and Sekhmet, they lead you into the green veldt where… you can run forever." Strigoi reached her hand to rub T'Challa's back in sympathy. She knew that T'Challa didn't fully believe that and was grieving and wanted revenge, just like she did. After his little interaction with Natasha, he rose and so did Strigoi, and he stated, "Don't bother, Miss Romanoff. We'll find him, and I'll kill him myself." T'Challa walked away, Strigoi turned to Natasha, who answered her phone. Strigoi listened until she heard that Steve was going to interfere, so she snatched the phone away, and she stated, "Rogers. You need to step away. You're already in a hole, don't dig further." Steve hung up the phone on her. Strigoi grabbed her laptop from the aircraft as T'Challa grabbed the his Panther suit, she looked into every database server and searched the Winter Soldier, and saw that one person in the CIA who printed all of the information of the Soldiers location. She used her connections to find her, and saw that the agent was meeting Steve in a coffee shop nearby. She knew that this was out of control, she made a call to Secretary Ross and who answered the call within a matter of seconds, "WHAT HAPPENED?!" She remained quiet, deeply thinking about her option, trying to come up with a way to get the Soldier while working, until she stated, "The Soldier showed up. You have a snake among your ranks. Sharon Carter. She got personally involved with the decisions of the Accords for the Avengers, and I need my orders on how to deal with her." Ross stated clearly, "Go after the Soldier. I'll handle Carter." Strigoi nodded her head at his command and hung up on him while smirking.

Strigoi flew the aircraft over to where she knew the Soldier was located due to the CIA information. She landed the aircraft on a nearby building and waited until she was given a reason to jump in, meaning she was waiting for her sights on the Winter Soldier. She told T'Challa to go wait on another roof for him to show up. When Strigoi saw the Soldier run out and tumble to where T'Challa was. She used her aerokinetic abilities to get to where they were. When the Soldier sling T'Challa awy while grabbing his bag, Strigoi flew down, sliced the strap of the bag causing it to fall, and stated, "Barnes, you need to come in now." Bucky ran forward went into hand to hand combat, until Steve interfered with them by grabbed Strigoi and throwing her away while Bucky grabbed the bag and took off. Black Panther and Strigoi both ran off to go after the Soldier together. Black Panther grabbed hold of one of the cars, while Phantom took a motorcycle to go after Barnes who was on his own motorcycle. After their altercation, the police and War Machine came, while Strigoi held out her "special needles," to make sure that Steve knew that she couldn't allow them to leave alive anymore. Rhodey told them that Steve was now a criminal, and when the police approached Strigoi gave them her scythe, and stated, "Don't touch King T'Challa. We'll go willingly." Black Panther nodded at her statement, retracted his claws, and took off his helmet. The police held Bucky to the ground, escorted everyone to the cars, but when Strigoi made it to hers, she stated, "I'm going to sit on top of Barnes vehicle, just in case he tries something. If you have any problems with that, that it up with Secretary Ross." Strigoi snatched her scythe away from one of the police officers who was struggling to carry it since it was so heavy, jumped on top of Bucky's vehicle, and waited until they took off.

When everyone got into the vehicles, the police drove to where there were going to store the criminals. While the police drove, Sam tried to lighten the mood by asking T'Challa, "So, you like cats?" Steve tried to stop him, but Sam contradicted, "What? Dude shows up dress like a cat and you don't wanna know more?" Steve ignored him and asked T'Challa, "Your suit… it's Vibranium, right? Fancy was to protect yourself. Also having someone as skilled as Phantom to protect you seems to be helpful. How exactly did she come to work for you? You pay her, or you have something for or against her?" T'Challa remained calm at Captain's shot against him and stated, " _Strigoi_ owes a life debt to Wakanda. She is a warrior and citizen for us to branch out to the world. Wakanda saved her from death's valley after the Hulk crushed her body. The Black Panther has been the protector of Wakanda for generations. A mantle, passed from warrior to warrior. And now, because your friend murdered my father, I also wear the mantle of king. So, I ask you… as both warrior and king… how long do you think you can keep your friend safe from me?" Strigoi watched the men converse while she rode on top of the vehicle. She could hear them due to the next comms that Shuri gave her when she went to visit, and it made her sigh. She knew this wasn't going to go well after their altercation.

When they arrived inside of the facility, Phantom stood and watched as the forklift carried Bucky's pod away to his new cell. She jumped down when Steve got out of the SUV with Sam and T'Challa, and walked over when she saw Sharon and Everett Ross walk up together towards the supers. Steve asked what was going to happen to Bucky and as soon as Everett answered, Strigoi stated, "I get first interview with the Soldier." Everett turned to her and tried to state firmly and politely, "Um, no. We need to interview…" Strigoi narrowed her red eye threatenly and argued, "Secretary Ross, your boss, gave me an exclusive deal that I get all first interviews with anyone involved with the Avengers or the Accords for my services. I will get first interview with the Soldier… ALONE, and if you, tiny little man, try to get in my way, you will learn why I am the most feared assassin in history, do you understand?" As soon as she threatened him, several guns pointed at her, and to show that she wasn't to be tried, she used her abilities to show them. She simply moved up her right hand open and slowly closed it. While she did this, Everett grabbed his chest because he as if something was happening to his heart and dropped to his knees and finally his back. Phantom narrowed her eyes and stated in a low tone, "Tell your men to back off, NOW!" Everett mumbled for them to stand down, until Sharon yelled, "STAND DOWN! HE'S DYING!" All of them pulled away their guns, and Strigoi dropped her hand and dropped her attack on Everett. Everett took his time to recover from her assault, so Strigoi knelt down without going on her knees and asked sickenly sweet and teasing, "So I can get interview to interview him first, right?" Everett only nodded his head, so Strigoi rose, pivoted and walked away towards where they took Bucky. Steve looked at horror at the scene that just appeared before him. The once kind girl who he used to connect with, directly attacked an unarm man by squeezing his heart. Steve was about to go after her, but Sam grabbed him, shook his head, and stated, "Now is not the time, Steve." Steve reluctantly nodded his head, and walked with him to the control room office.

While in the office, Tony was about to go talk to Steve until they heard a large metal door open through the observing camera of Bucky's cell. Strigoi walked in, handed her scythe to the security guard of Buckys cell, and she stated, "Take this, and leave us. I want as much privacy as I can get." The security guards walked out of the room, and she put a destabilizing agent on one of the microphones, which canceled out all of the microphones in the room, so that no one outside of the room would be able to hear her "interview." She went to the pod, attached another destabilizer to the keypad, causing the door to unlock. She opened the door, walked into the pod, shut the door behind her, turned off the destabilizer through her watch connection, and looked at Bucky with no emotion within her eyes. She stated with no emotion, "I want details on "Mission Clearwater."" Bucky held his stoic expression and stated, "You have nothing to do with that." Strigoi pulled the hair away from her eyes, pulled her mask down, and Bucky immediately recognized her and asked, "You?" She kept her emotionless face and responded, "Me. Now "Mission Clearwater," if you please." Bucky kept his stoic expression and chose to state nothing. Strigoi sighed and stated, "Fine. We'll do this my way." She straddled onto his lap, looked him into his eye, told him to read too much into this, and she pressed her lips against his. Bucky was very stiff, until she licked his lips, which caused him to gasp, and she stuck her tongue into mouth. When she could tell that his mind guard was down, she connected their minds together.

Strigoi was in a dark room with many different doors. She saw that all of the doors were color coordinated with only three colors, black, blue, and white. Most of the doors were black, except for the ones in the from which were white, and the ones at the end of hall, which were blue. Strigoi opened the first white door, and she saw through the eyes of Bucky him buying plums early within the day. Strigoi felt her way out to shut the door back into the hallway. She went down the hall to the other side to the blue doors way before any of the blacks. She opened one to see herself in New York way back in the day. She listened to hear a bunch of yelling and light voice grunting. Bucky's body ran to an alleyway to see a tiny Steve without any muscles getting pummeled by a bully stating that he could fight all day. Bucky interfered with the last hit, pulled the man away, and stated, "Hey! Pick on somebody your own size." The man then tried to punch Bucky, who blocked the attack, hit him in return, and kicked him away from Steve. Strigoi went out of that memory and sighed heavily within her own mind and thought, "I'm sorry Steve." She yelled out to the mind to see if it would narrow her options down, "Mission Clearwater." Strigoi's body moved to put it in front of a single door. Strigoi took a heavy sigh, and opened the door. When she went in, she saw a German man stand before the Soldier's body and told him in Russia while presenting the targets, "This is Enrique Rios, famous Genetic Mutation Expert. HYDRA needs his information to enhance our other soldiers. He has one wife and two children. One boy and one girl. Both children have demonstrated having their father's mutation, but the son doesn't have the same grasp and potential as the daughter does. We want you to assassinate Enrique, his wife, and his son. The daughter is to be brought to us, so that we may train her to be another Winter Soldier. Extract any information you can about his research. Make sure that it doesn't like they were assassinated though. If any other mutants found out that the assassination was a hit, they will put their guards up and that could mean trouble for us." The Soldier nodded his head and accept the assignment.

The Soldier took off to Indiana and tried to think out a way to make it seem like he wasn't involved. When he arrived, he met the son first, who was behind the dumpster behind the liquor store. The Soldier conversed with son the first time, the boy let out his heart. "Ever since Victoria showed signs of her powers, my dad never spends any time with me anymore. She already spent most of time her time with mom, why does she have to take dad. She always hogs the spotlight. She just has to be good everything. Yes, I know my abilities aren't as good as hers, but why do our parents need to show her so much attention?" The Soldier figured out his way in and spent the next couple days convincing the poor naïve boy that his parents couldn't love two children when they have only one genius. The Soldier build on the boy's resentment and finally when he knew that the boy was ready to snap, he gave him the gun to kill them. He observed the altercation of the family unfold, until he and the daughter locked eyes. He saw the depravity and loss within her eyes and he remembered those eyes from an old memory of a tiny blonde boy who just lost his mother, and he felt something that he hadn't felt in a long time: guilt. He decided to observe the girl for the next two days, until he thought that she perished in a fire, and he chose to let the assignment die with the poor unfortunate child.

While Strigoi was looking into Bucky's mind, he went into hers. Her hallway was in a very dark lighting. Most of her doors with red, except for those at the other end that were white and two doors that were pitch black. Bucky's curiosity hit him because he had no idea where he was, so he went down the hall to where the white doors were. He opened one and a bright light shown in his eyes, until they focused to see himself within a small forms body. He heard music playing until he heard a little girl's voice coming from his form singing. His eyes went to his right, and he saw someone who he saw die years ago, Carol Rios, singing back at him. Both him and Carol sang to each other until the end, when the he and the woman embraced each other and he saw how truly small he was. Someone took their picture, presented it to them, and Bucky saw that he was in Strigoi's young body when she was a child. The body pulled away from Carol, looked to the audience, and addressed them, "Ladies and Gentlemen, this is a celebration of my mother's singing career achievements. I want to sing a special piece that signifies my love and respect to her. This is for you, Mom. I love you." The body nodded to the orchestra and sang "My Mother" originally by the Chipettes. After the song was over, the body turned to Carol, who was crying tears of joy and gratitude. Carol ran over to the body and embraced it, to symbolize their mother and daughter connection. The room went dark after that and Bucky found himself back in the long hallway with doors.

He shut the door and went to another to see if the same memory would occur once again. Instead, Bucky found himself by a soft flowing creek with Enrique Rios who only wore a simply blue tank top with swimming trunk. Enrique moved his body in a tai chi motion and a small stream of water came from it and moved with his motions. While Enrique moved the water, he instructed, "Now, Mija, when it comes to your hydrokinesis, you should relax, or the water won't move as fluently as you want." The body that Bucky was in replied, "But Daddy, what if I can't do it? What happens if I mess up?" Enrique stopped moving the water, and sent it back to the creek. He turned to the body and said, "Victoria, if you don't try, you can never succeed. It doesn't matter if you can't do it on your first time. You'll get the hang of it eventually." The body took a deep breath, focused on the creek, and moved a little to have several streams come from it. The streams moved with its every motion naturally and it made "Victoria" seem like she excelled in her abilities. Enrique made even more streams come from the creek and they moved them together. After several minutes of moving them together, they moved the streams back and the body was jumping up and down while proclaiming, "I CAN'T BELIEVE I DID IT!" Enrique hugged the body and proclaimed, "I'M SO PROUD OF YOU, VICTORIA! YOU'RE A NATURAL AND I COULDN'T BE HAPPIER! YOU'LL EVEN SURPASS ME SOMEDAY AND I LOOK FORWARD TO IT!" The body laughed and Bucky felt his heart swell up and then he felt the guilt because he realized that these were the memories of Strigoi before her family's incident. The room went dark and Bucky found himself in the hallway once again.

He felt that he needed to find out why the other doors had other colors, so he went to red ones first. Each one he saw, they were all about her training and looking for him since the death of her family. After he saw all the memories, he sat on the ground and thought about what all he saw. "She really has been looking for me. Now that she found me, why isn't she just killing me? What does she want with those mission details?" Bucky asked to himself aloud. He heard Strigois's voice, "I'm sorry, Steve," coming off as an echo through the room. Bucky raised his eyebrow and asked aloud, "Why would she need to be sorry?" His body moved to a red door next to one of the two black doors. Bucky felt curious, so he stood up and went into the room/memory. He saw Strigoi's vision from when she ate the fruit of the panther. When he saw what she saw, he heard her pledge that she would give him a chance to shift the blame to the right people. After he left that room, he saw her standing before him in the hallway with her arms crossed. She took a deep breath and stated, "James, I'm going to let you go. I know it wasn't your fault, so I'm going to go after those responsible for my family's tragedy. I followed you for over haft of my life, actually judging by your memories, I'm the only woman who walked your path for longer than a month. Stay out of trouble and I'll get you out of this, but your mind needs help. Once I unleash our psychic connection, I'm going to leave and talk to Ross. Don't think too much about the connection and don't try to read my mind after this. Cause I just read yours in return."

Bucky found himself back in the cell with Strigoi still on his lab, making out with him. Bucky noticed that she was still kissing him he kissed her back. Strigoi came back to realize the Bucky was making out with her, and she heard him think, "Wow, it's really been a long time since I've kissed a woman. She has really soft and plump lips, and she taste like cherries. Mmmm, I like cherries." Strigoi smiled at his comment, began to kiss him back on her own, and thought, "You know, even though his mind's not all there, he's a really good kisser. He even taste like plums. If we didn't meet the way we did, I think that I could have gone for a guy like him, just by judging on his past memories. Plus, he ain't that bad to look at…" She heard him reply thanks, so she thought, "NO, I HAVE TO STOP… I don't want to… but I need to." She pulled away from him pulled her ask up, put her hair in front of her blue eye, unlocked the pod door, went outside the pod, reshut the door, locked it back up, and took off her destabilizer while stating, "Remember, don't do anything and I'll get you out of this." Bucky nodded at her, and then she took off the microphones destabilizer and left the room. She walked to the office room to see everyone just watching her as she walked. She sat down, saw everyone staring at her, instead of Steve and Tony, who were conversing with each other. When she felt them both trying to look at her, she commanded, "You both clearly have something that you want to say, so why don't you just say it." Tony was only one to speak, "Well, some of us want talk about your little make out session with the criminal, but I think that you are at your dating a bad boy phase. You clearly have a thing for old men, but I want to know why you kissed him, even when others claim that you hate him." Strigoi looked at him, held a stoic expression, and replied, "I got the answers that I have been seeking for all of my career." Steve looked at her and asked, "So, it didn't mean anything to you, did it?" Strigoi glanced at him and replied, "I can't say that. Did Wanda mean something to you after you replace me with her? Since you're so protective of her. Or Sharon?"

Steve remained quiet, so Strigoi, feeling a little hurt and betrayed, rose from her seat, walked out of the building, and drove to a liquor store nearby, bought five bottles of Rumchata and went to her vehicle. After she got to her vehicle, she drove to an empty lot, she drank up all of the bottles of alcohol, until she was on her final bottle when her phone rang. She looked at it and saw that it was from T'Challa, so she answered it, "What?" T'Challa was quiet for a moment until he asked, "Have you been drinking again?" Strigoi didn't answer, but asked, "What happened?" T'Challa told her Steve, Sam, and the Winter Soldier fought their ways out of captivity, and that Stark was asking for her. Strigoi drove back to the building, only to see Secretary Ross glaring at her, yelled, "And where the hell have you been?" Strigoi shrugged and replied, "Taking care of something. I'll find them, and take care of this on my own, my own way." Ross asked how it would be different, she looked him in his eye, grabbed her scythe from the table, twirled it around her, and replied, "This time. No feelings are gonna stop me." Strigoi looked at Tony and Natasha and stated, "We only got 36 hours. Let's find them." Natasha told them that they were understaffed and she had an idea, and Tony replied that he had one too. Natasha stated that hers were downstairs, and Natasha asked where his were, Tony smirked, looked at Strigoi and stated, "We're going to Queens." Strigoi raised her eyebrow at him, but didn't argue. Tony flew them Queens, drove them to an apartment building that Strigoi recognized, and before Tony was about to go in, Strigoi pulled away from him pulling her and asked, "Who are we grabbing?" Tony looked at her and stated, "Your old friend got an upgrade, so I'm going to recruit him." Strigoi looked down to her outfit which was not what she wanted to wear, so she grabbed her bag that she packed and changed. While she changed, she stated, "You can go in. I'll find my way to his room." Tony nodded at her and went inside. Phantom put on a sleeveless button up shirt that she left up to show off her cleavage, black leather pants, and black ankle stiletto boots. Phantom left her weaponry in the car and she climbed up the fire escape to Peter's window. She tried to open the window, but it was locked, so she used her abilities to unlock it, and she climbed in. As soon as she got in, she smoothed out her pants, straightened herself to make sure that she looked her very best, sat on his bed, crossed her legs, picked up one of the books on his desk, and read to wait for him and Tony to show up.

When Peter walked in, she turned the page and stated, "You know _The Count of Monte Cristo_ is so much better than _To Kill a Mockingbird_ if you ask me." Peter dropped his bag to the side of him as he stared at her in disbelief. Strigoi glanced up at him and asked, "What? Literature too hard?" Peter stumbled a little until he ran full force, embracing Strigoi, who rose when she saw him coming, and he was shaking. Strigoi held onto him gently as she heard him mumble about her being dead and replied, "Peter. I'm fine. I'd be lying if I stated that I didn't miss you too." Tony let the two teens have their moment until he coughed which made Strigoi let go, and say, "Not to kill the moment, but Stark wants to speak to you. You and I can talk later, but this takes priority, so pay attention." Peter let go and looked at Tony who shut and locked the door. He spit out the date loaf and stated, "As walnut date loaves go, that wasn't bad." Strigoi flinched at that and asked while shaking from the memory of the taste, "She still make those? I remember getting that for Christmas. Hewww." Peter rolled his eyes at her and turned his attention to Tony who Peter's collection of old computers, "What, what do we have here? Retro tech, huh? Thrift store? Salvation Army?" Both Strigoi and Peter answered at the same time, "Garbage." Tony stated that he was a dumpster diver, and when Peter tried to tell Tony that he didn't apply for the grant, Tony contradicted him. Tony pulled out his phone and stated, "Ah-ah! Me first. Quick question of the rhetorical variety." Tony put on a video projection of Peter in his Spiderman outfit, "That's you, right?" Peter looked frighten and tried to make it seem crazy, but Tony continued while watching, "Yeah. Look at you go. Wow! Nice catch. 3,000 pounds, 40 miles an hour. That's not easy. You got mad skills." Peter tried to tell Tony it was fake, until Phantom revealed his suit's hiding place. Peter tried to hide it, but he knew that it was already too late, so Tony asked, "So. You're the… Spider…ling. Crime-fighting Spider… You're Spider-Boy?" Peter stated petulantly, "S… Spider-Man." When Tony tried to stated that he wasn't in that onesie, Strigoi punched Tony gently on his, trying to make him act polite, as Peter went on how he was having a good day. Strigoi asked teasingly, "Did my presence ruin your perfect day?" Peter immediately felt guilty and replied quickly, "NO, no… no. Actually it makes me feel better. When I saw the news about you dying, it broke my heart, because I believed that I lost my best friend." Tony, not wanting his aunt to come in to mid-conversation kept the topic going, "Who else knows? Anybody?" Strigoi allowed Tony and Peter to have their little bonding moment, until Peter came up with his excuse of why he couldn't go to Germany, which made her die of laughter. Tony went on his threat to tell Aunt May until Peter webbed him. Peter tried to find the siccors, until Phantom pulled out her lone knife, and cut Tony out.

After she cut Tony out, Tony turned to Strigoi and ordered, "You're going to bring the kid to Germany. I want to stay with him at all times, make sure he gets there safe, and that he gets his new suit." Strigoi gave him an exasperated look and replied, "Why me?" Tony walked out and replied, "Because I know you care enough about him to keep him safe, yet you also care enough to make sure that your job gets done, so you and Happy will be bringing him in. Bye!" With that Tony left the two teens to go tell Aunt May some lie about Peter going to a conference. Strigoi turned to Peter and stated, "Pack your bags, looks like you're going to come to Germany with me." Strigoi sat on the bed as Peter packed enough clothes for the trip and when he got his stuff, she instructed him to go kiss his Aunt May goodbye, go downstairs, and meet her in the car that Happy was bringing. Peter did as he was instructed and he saw Phantom roll down the window telling him to get in. Peter videotaped the experience and Strigoi asked, "Is movie making your new hobby?" Peter nodded his head and stated, "I want to keep the memory alive." Strigoi smiled at his honesty and allowed him to keep filming. When Peter had his little panic when the plane took off, until Strigoi pulled him in, and petted his head while stating that he was going to be okay. During the flight, Strigoi continued to read _To Kill a Mockingbird_ , until Peter asked, "So why didn't you come back?" Strigoi put down the book, looked him dead in the eye, and replied, "They replaced me, Peter. Plus, I… I died. I had a life debt to repay. I left the Avengers, and as a result I had to leave you too. I'm sorry, but this what happened to my life." Peter looked down and stated, "I remember the day they announced that you died. Before the announcement came out, the snowglobe that you gave Uncle Ben began to act weird. The clouds turned black and it seemed to be storming in globe. The waves were splashing everywhere chaotically. It continued that route, until a little lightning struck, three fractures came on the glass and the waves no longer formed and the water was still. The clouds were gone and the orb seemed to have died. Then the announcement that you died came on, and that's when I knew, but thank god that I was wrong." Strigoi put her arm around his shoulders, rubbed his back, and replied, "I'm so sorry. I didn't know that it broke you so much. Truth be told, I did actually die, three times to be exact. I didn't recovered for three months and afterwards, I saw that Captain replaced me and that's why I chose to do what I did best. I'm sorry that I hurt you." Peter put his head on her shoulder and replied, "At least I have you back now." Strigoi kissed his head, and replied, "I am too."

After they got to Germany and Strigoi had Peter settled in, she received a call from Ross. She picked up the phone and asked, "What? Why are you calling me?" Secretary Ross replied, "I took care of the snake. Her car exploded in front of Rogers after she delivered their weapons, betraying her country. Now, you have to handle the rest. BRING THEM IN!" Strigoi nodded her head and replied, "Yes, sir." She hung up the phone and went into Peter's hotel room to see Peter in his old suit, so she asked, "What are you wearing?" Peter tried to explain that he was in his suit, but she stated, "Peter, there is a new suit in the suitcase. Go put that one on. Happy's going to give you the coordinates, so go meet us there after you get done changing. I'm going to head out now." Peter nodded at her and she left him. She changed into her newest assassination uniform. It consisted of a sports bra a shawl that exposed her midriff, tight black leather pants with holes, and a caped hood with leather boots. She grabbed her vibranium scythe, knives, guns, and poisonous needles. She took her energy reviver pill that Shuri created to give Strigoi the energy boost that she needed. She hotwired a motorcycle and drove to the airport. She made it before anyone else did, so she boosted herself up, just in case that there was going to a fight.

Steve came in through the underpass to see Strigoi standing there waiting for him with Iron Man and War Machine came flying in next to her. Tony asked, "Wow, it's so weird how you run into the airport. Don't you think it's weird?" Rhodey instantly replied, "Definitely weird." Steve tired to explain that it wasn't Bucky's fault, but Strigoi raised her hand and stated, "We already know, Steve. But Barnes has to come in to get his mental state fixed. We can't have an unstable killing machine running around." Steve tried to state that there were five more of him out there, but Natasha tried to reason with him. Tony ran out of patience and called Peter into action, "Underoos!" Peter came flying while grabbing Captain's shield with his spider webbing and tying up Steve's hands. Tony commented on Peter's nice job, and when Peter went on his cute little speech, Strigoi told him, "Spidey. No. No conversation." Steve commented on the new team and Tony argued, "And you've been a complete idiot. Dragging in Clint. 'Rescuing' Wanda from a place she doesn't even want to leave, a safe place. MAKING VICTORIA CHOOSE TO ASSASINATE ONCE AGAIN, AND ONE OF HER OLD FRIENDS AT THAT! I'm just… I'm trying to keep you from tearing the Avengers apart." Strigoi lowered her gaze at Tony's reveal of his weakness. When Steve stated that he did that when they signed, Strigoi pulled out an unlaced knife, and threw it to scratch Steve's unmasked part of his face. Steve glanced at her and she stated, "Imply that again, and I'll do worse. I promise you that. We could have still been together, if you would have just swallowed. Your. Pride!" Tony went on his speech until Steve couldn't look at him and Strigoi went to grab one of the laced needles, until someone hit Peter and returned Steve's shield.

When everyone took off, Strigoi grabbed Peter and yelled, "COME ON! WE'RE GOING AFTER BARNES!" Peter wrapped his arm around her waist and shot them up to go after Bucky and Sam. Strigoi went through the glass, recovered, and ran after Sam and Bucky while Peter climbed on the windows after them as well. Bucky looked over to the glass to see someone climbing on the glass towards them, so he asked, "What the hell is that?" Sam just kept running and stated, "Everyone's got a gimmick now." Strigoi saw Peter's position, so she yelled, "NOW!" and Peter swung in to kick Sam backwards. Bucky threw a punch only for Peter to grab him. When Sam grabbed Peter, Strigoi took her little fight with Bucky. While she swung, she stated, "James. I told you to stay put. You know I don't wanna fight you anymore, but you gotta get some help." Bucky kept his guard up, while he replied, "Victoria. I have to go after the other soldiers. I'm sorry. I'll come back after, I promise." Phantom heard his mind and stated it outloud, "'I have to lie to her.' Really, James?! I can still hear your thoughts. Our minds are going to be connected." Bucky grabbed her and tossed her over the side to the first floor, but Strigoi used her aerokinetic abilities to save her and she shot herself up, only to see Peter kick Bucky and Sam down. Peter looked at her floating and he yelled, "YOU CAN FLY?!" Strigoi rolled her eyes at the young teen and responded, "We'll talk about this later." Redwing came in as Peter tried to web Bucky and Sam, took the webbing, connected it to Peter and Strigoi, and carried them out.

Strigoi and Peter recovered from the wall and returned back to the rest of the Tony's team for lineup against Steve's team. Peter noticed that all of the people had determined except for Strigoi, who had sadness and regret within hers. Everyone began to stride forward, and then went into a full sprint. Phantom decided to go at it with her king to try to take down the one person who she thought could end this all: Bucky. She and T'Chala fought off Bucky, until she noticed Wanda using her abilities against her team. Strigoi went towards Wanda, tied her scythe to her back, and focused on Wanda's heart. Strigoi reached her hand forward open, and then slowed closed it to squeeze Wanda's heart. Wanda began to grip her chest due to the pain that she was feeling. Strigoi felt her power surge a little, so she stepped forward, grabbed Wanda's chin with her free hand, and stated menacingly, "Now, should I kill you now? Or kill you slowly, while showing you an image your brother doing it, just like you did to Bruce?" Wanda's eye filled with fear, and Strigoi kept her gaze, until Clint fired an arrow that Strigoi caught breaking her concentration. The arrow exploded in Strigoi's face, causing her fall back. Strigoi recovered, walked slowly towards Wanda while having a serial killers look within her eyes. Wanda tried to run, until she felt that her body wouldn't move. She struggled to move, but every time she tried, she felt agony unlike any other. Strigoi held a menacing smile and she challenged, "You wanna see advance telekinesis? LET ME SHOW YOU ADVANCE HYDROKINESIS!" Strigoi used her abilities to make Wanda's bloodflow stop, until Vision stopped her by putting himself in front of Wanda. "Miss Strigoi. I implore you to stop. If you continue, you'll kill her and I cannot allow that. Now drop your attack." Strigoi let her go her assault on the other super and stated, "Keep her out of my way, or I will kill her without hesitation." Strigoi then took off to go find Bucky. She saw him running with Steve to the Quinjet and she yelled, "VISION, BLOCK THE ROAD!" Strigoi ran as fast as she could towards the men while Vision flew up and fire a shining beam of energy beam his mind stone at the control tower, causing it to collapse towards the entrance of the hanger. Wanda used her abilities to slow the collapse, until War Machine fired a sonic disrupter that messed her head, causing her to lose focus and scream. Strigoi made it past the collision to find Natasha attacking T'Challa with her stun bullets, so Strigoi ran behind Natasha, put her scythe to her neck, and stated, "You're going to seriously regret that." Strigoi pulled out her needle that was laced her poison that caused intense pain, but doesn't kill the victim. She inserted it into Natasha, and walked away as Natasha screamed in agony and pain while T'Challa watched.

Strigoi walked out only to see Vision shoot a beam at Rhodey because he was too distracted by Wanda. Phantom flew as fast as she could to the where she coordinated where Rhodey was going to land. She sensed a water pipe deep underneath in the ground, so she broke the pipe from the inside out, rushed the water as high as she could to soften the ground. Strigoi then used her terrakinesis to mince up any hard stones in the ground, so that none of them could inject him, and finally summoned up as much gust of wind and shot them up to slow down Rhodey's descent, until she had to move out of the way. Rhodey landed on the still semi hard ground, and Tony flew up to the two while Strigoi examined him. "He's still breathing. Thank god I softened the ground before impact or he would have died, but he's going to need a medical team, now." Tony nodded, shot down Sam, who tried to apologize, and replied, "The team is on its way."

The medical team took all those seriously injured away, while Strigoi took Peter back to his hotel and told him to explore Germany while she had to go work. Strigoi and Tony went to go see Rhodey who had to get CAT scan. Vision walked up to the two observing Rhodey while Tony asked, "How did this happen?" Vision replied that he was distracted and Strigoi replied, "If you would have let me do what I do best, Rhodey wouldn't be sitting here." All three of them knew Natasha was outside, but Strigoi didn't want to deal with her, so she focused her mind to look into Bucky's mind to find out where he and Steve were going. She saw an "X" on a Siberian map, and she knew that's where she needed to go. Strigoi met with Tony after his talk with Natasha, and stated, "Let's go talk to Sam. I need to make sure of something." Tony nodded his head and they flew to the Raft Prison. He and Strigoi went into the cells and look at all of the cells. Strigoi smirked at Wanda's fate and she even did a sinister laugh while asking, "Better to be in captivity than be dead beneath my feet, right, Sweetheart?" Clint mocked Tony until Strigoi walked up to his cell and stated quietly, "You knew this was going to happen. You should have just stay a father and been with your children. Don't blame us for your decisions." Clint wanted to spit at her until she whisped, "I talked Ross into getting you outta here and to your kids, but you will be required to sign the retirement papers, and stay at your home unless you get permission by the government to leave. Your lawyer will be here in a couple of hours with the contract, don't thank me. Just get to your kids." Clint, as did Scott Lang, that tried to verbally attack Tony, who held well on his own. Strigoi gave Tony a moment to talk to Sam, until she intervened, by showing him her phone and the location and asked, "Yes or no?" It was very brief, but Sam saw it, and when she saw his eyes, she was given her answer, so she turned to Tony and stated, "Let's go." Strigoi then flew them out to the what seemed to be the compound, until she and Tony went into two of the Iron Suits that he made just for the occasion and they flew out to Siberia.

When they got to Steve and Bucky's location, Tony opened the door until to see Steve and Bucky with gun's ready to shoot at both of them. Tony walked forward while stating, "You seem a little defensive." Bucky held his fire to Tony, only to have Strigoi raise her gun to Bucky as her way of saying, "you shoot then so do I." Steve walked forward and stated, "It's been a long day." Tony tried to relax Bucky by telling him that he wasn't after him, but Strigoi stated, "Actually I am. But I'll bring you in after we handle the other Soldiers." Steve and Tony went through their cute little interaction, until Tony saw Bucky holding his gun's position, "Hey, Manchurian Candidate, you're killing me. There's a truce here. You can drop…" Steve motioned Bucky to drop his gun, then so did Strigoi, while she got out of her Iron Suit. All four of the people walked, until Tony led them into a vast chamber where they saw all of the enhanced soldiers were shot into their heads. The doors shut, and when Steve saw Zemo, he threw the shield that didn't do any damage to the chamber. Steve did his little interrogation of Zemo, only to have T'Challa watching the interaction.

Zemo put on a video footage that everyone, but Strigoi recognized. Tony went forward, and proclaimed, "I know that road. What is this?" Everyone watched as the Winter Soldier killed off Maria and Howard Stark, while Steve glanced back and forth to Tony, who was growing uneasy. Tony watched with hatred at Bucky, as the Soldier killed them off without any mercy. Tony tried to lunge at Bucky, but Steve stopped him, "Tony. Tony!" Tony was consumed with grief and tears were glistening in his eyes, he turned, looked at Steve, and asked, "Did you know?" Steve tried to lie, but Tony asked, "Don't you bullshit me, Rogers! Did you know?" Steve replied yes and Tony went into battle mode against the two super soldiers. Strigoi used her scythe to sweep as she spun around to gain speed and strength in her swing. As Steve tried to handle Tony, who was in a blind rage, Strigoi went after Bucky who was trying ot escape. When Bucky tried to sneak out from the top, Tony fired a missile to shut them all in. When Tony finally grabbed Bucky, he asked, "Do you even remember them?" Bucky replied without any remorse, "I remember all of them." Strigoi dropped her scythe, and followed all of the men to the lower level where the snow drifted in.

Strigoi used the snow to her advantage and inserted snow into Bucky's arm and froze the joints from the inside. When Steve tried to reason that Tony getting Bucky wasn't going to change anything, both Tony and Strigoi replied at the same time, "I don't care. He killed my mom/parents." Steve and Tony went at it while Strigoi went after Bucky. Tony blasted Bucky's metal arm as he and Strigoi had their hand-to-hand fight. After Strigoi threw one last punch, Bucky grabbed it with his free hand and threw her to the wall, which made all of her energy leave her in a split second, and she knew that she had to finish that fight then and there, or she was going to pass out due to energy exhaustion. She struggled to push herself up, as Bucky was on the bloodied up and conscious. Steve reached and pulled him up to his feet, as Tony looked up and yelled, "That shield doesn't belong to you. You don't deserve it. My father made that shield." Steve dropped the shield, and was about to walk out until Strigoi pulled her mask down, and pled, "Steve please. I'm begging you here. Not as Strigoi, but as Victoria. Once you walk, you'll be on my list and I don't… I don't want to hurt you…" Steve sighed and just kept walking, so in her final attempt, Strigoi put her hand on the snow and sent a long line of ice spikes off the ground towards Steve and Bucky with full intention to kill both men. Tony saw her attack, and immediately knew that she would regret that decision later, so he fired an energy beam to the last few spikes, to fully save the both men as Strigoi pasted out after she launched her attack.

T'Challa came back to see Tony badly injured, while Strigoi had past out due to energy exhaustion. T'Challa took Zemo, Tony, and Strigoi back to Germany. Zemo was put under arrest, Tony filed his paperwork, while Strigoi recovered within a week. After Strigoi recovered, Tony came to see her. "Hey kid, how are you feeling," Tony asked the girl who had a soft sad look within her eyes since she woke up. She glanced up to him and stated, "I don't know. I tried to kill one my best friends in the world, just because he chose one friend over all of us. I don't know if I should feel remorse, guilt, or frustration. I don't know what to do about this at this point. To go after them, to go after the other assailants of my family's murders, or take a break?" Tony smiled and replied, "Why don't you come spend a couple of days with me, and then you can figure it out?" Strigoi smiled and replied, "Sure, why not? But I need to go see T'Challa in Wakanda first. I'll be back as soon as I can." Tony nodded at her request and replied, "Peter and I will be waiting until you return."

Phantom nodded at him and left to go watch the tradition challenge and crowning ceremony in Wakanda. She returned within a day with some new toys that Shuri gave her when she visited for that single day. Strigoi took all of stuff and decided to hang out with Tony and Peter for a couple of days while she planned her next move, since T'Challa didn't have any orders for her. Strigoi slept the entire way back, until all three of them were taking Peter home while Strigoi sat in the front while she gave Tony and Peter a bonding moment. Tony was talking to Peter about his video camera while Happy intervened with their conversation every now and then. It wasn't until Tony stated, "Okay kid, since you get to keep the suit, you're going to need a guide to help show you the ropes to be a great hero. I'm going to volunteer Victoria." Victoria immediately looked back to the two and asked, "Excuse me? Victoria is going to do what?" Tony looked at her and stated, "Victoria is going to teach Peter how to be a good hero. Keep up. She's going to go to school with you, and while she teaches you how to be a hero, you're going to teach her how to be a normal teen. It's a win-win. Victoria, I'm going to enroll you Tuesday, since you need to go clothes shopping. I'm going to get you the apartment above Peter's and you will be responsible for him. OH, I'll also swing by with Cerberus tomorrow." Tony pushed Peter out, and told Victoria to get out, while stating, "Victoria, just have fun and relax. Think of this as a mini vacation for you." Victoria got out of the car, sighed and thought, "What can I teach high schooler and what can a high schooler teach me?"

Strigoi's Bad Outfit: pin/607634174695155326/

Funeral Outfit: pin/643592602972616794/

Assembly Outfit: pin/812829432720776921/

Meeting Peter again Outfit: pin/536069161872193994/

Fighting Outfit: pin/497999671287425932/


	11. Transitioning To A New Life

The next day after Tony dropped the bombshell that Strigoi was going to be Peter's new mentor was still sinking into her mind. Tony already rented her an apartment above Peter's so that they would always be close, walk to school, and have the same hideout. Strigoi got out of her new king sized bed, went to her closet and she realized that she only had one clean undamaged shirt and pants, and they were a simple plain navy t-shirt and tight blue skinny jeans. She sighed, put on the clean clothes and waited on the sidewalk outside for Tony to show up to take her clothes shopping like her promised her the night before. As she waited, Peter came out of the building and asked, "Is Mr. Stark going to take you shopping for school clothes and supplies?" Strigoi yawned while replying, "Yup." She glanced over him and stated, "I'll be home by the time you get back home. After you get back, you and I are going to discuss what all training I'm going to teach you." Peter nodded at her and replied, "Okay. Have fun with Mr. Stark." Strigoi waved hack at him as he walked while she waited for Tony, who didn't show up for another hour of her waiting. He was in one of special new sports car that he bought during his "I-need-to-shop-since-I-lost-my-friends" phase. Strigoi got into the passenger seat, and Tony drove them all the way back to Manhattan to go shopping. Tony took her to DestinyUSA. He first took her to Victoria Secret to several bra and panty sets that he could, so that she wouldn't have to go shopping for them later. Her favorite lingerie set was a white top and panty set that had black lace trimming in the front. After she came out with ten bags, Tony smiled at her and took her the Abercrombie and Finch, Forever 21, Hollister, Charlotte Russe, Francesca's, and Windsor's. After every store, she walked out with at least eight bags, which Happy had to take her bags to the separate town car for storage.

After they finished shopping, Tony took her to San Marzano to get some slices of pizza. While they sat down waiting for their pizza, Tony watched Strigoi as she read through the newsfeed on her phone. Strigoi felt the eyes, so she asked, "Do you want to say what's on your mind?" Tony leaned forward, pressed himself a little to the table, and asked, "So, what are you going to go by when you're in school?" Strigoi raised her eyebrow and replied, "My name 'Strigoi.' Why?" Tony replied, "Most of the world knows you by Phantom, but I know you as Victoria. You are still technically Phantom Carmen Potts-Stark, you know?" Strigoi leaned forward and replied, "Yes, I know. But Phantom died in Africa last year, remember?" Tony shrugged and replied, "Technically, yes you did, but there was no death certificate made. I think you should go by your first name, Victoria. I'm willing to change your name legally. I also want you to drop your habit of wearing a mask." Strigoi sighed heavily. She knew Tony wasn't going to drop the subject about her new name and what her title was going to be, so she argued, "I'll go by Phantom, but I am not going to stop wearing my mask. That is not negotiable. I still want to keep my connections within the mercenary world, AS STRIGOI!" Tony threw his napkin down and replied, "NO! You need to watch and teach Peter. You can't just run off and go into mercenary work." She narrowed her eyes at his comment and replied, "Tony, I said keep my connections, not keep working. I can still teach Peter, but I want to keep my connections to my colleagues so I can find Barnes." Tony leaned back and replied, "As long as it doesn't get back to Peter, I believe that's fine." Phantom smiled replied, "I promise, it won't." The pizza arrived after they shared a moment of gazing in each other's eyes. Phantom got the Quattro Formaggi and Tony got the Rapini. They ate while making snide jokes and comment to each other just like they did in the old days.

After they finished eating, Tony drove them to the tower without telling Phantom why. He blindfolded her, and led her up to her floor. When they arrived, Tony led her to her couch with her blindfold still on. He slowly walked to her room where the door was shut, and opened it to reveal a very excited Cerberus. Cerberus ran out to Phantom and tackled her. Phantom began to mutter out, "Cer… cer… Cerber… CERBERUS! HAHAHA! OKAY I MISSED YOU TOO!" The poor wolf kept licking her face, jumping back and forth, while whimpering. Phantom removed her eye mask at first contact, and began to pet and try to hold the wolf down, but failed miserably. After this continued for five minutes, Cerberus finally settled down, and snuggled in while Phantom pat him gently. Phantom was whispering sweet nothings to her pet as she pet him. Tony smiled at their interaction and sat down next to Phantom when Cerberus finally calmed down. Phantom looked at Tony and stated, "You don't play fair. Using Cerberus as your pawn, and I hate it because I love him so much." She leaned down to kiss Cerberus head, and when she smelled him, she went, "Whew. Somebody hasn't washed you in a while. I'll give you a bath when we get to our new apartment." Cerberus lifted his head to look at her in confusion and she replied, "Oh yeah, we're moving to Queens. I got a king size bed, so we can sleep in the same bed. Also, Peter lives in the room below us, so there's that too." Tony watched in confusion as Phantom and Cerberus looked at each other until Phantom replied, "It's pretty big. I got a giant couch too with a flat screens TV's in all of the bedrooms." Phantom got up, went to the bedroom, and packed up anything that she could take with her. She grabbed all of Cerberus items within the floor and then she and Cerberus went to elevator door. They both glanced over to Tony, while Phantom asked, "Hey, you coming? I'm going to take the big SUV, so I can take Cerberus over to the apartment with his stuff." Tony nodded, stood up, and walked over to the other two by the elevator.

Phantom drove the SUV back to Queens, grabbed all of her items, took them to the room, went back down, grabbed Cerberus, and they walked into the building as the landlord was walking out. He was an elderly man with pure white hair and was humped over with a cane. He had fear in his eyes while looking at Cerberus, who was huge compared to any other dogs or wolves, but Phantom put her arm over its shoulder, and asked the poor old man, "It's okay if I have a pet, right? Cerberus and I are never separate, and he's potty trained, he doesn't bark, and he always clean cause I bathe him once a day." The old man looked at Tony, who stated, "I'll pay you for three apartments if Cerberus gets to stay." The old man thought about it for a second until he replied, "Of course, anything for one of the heroes of New York. As long as he doesn't receive any complaints, you'll be fine." Phantom nodded and told Cerberus, "You hear that boy? You gotta behave." The wolf nodded at her, and all three of them processed into the building to her apartment.

After the movers brought all of the items to her apartment, Tony told her what her assignment was. "You're going to be teaching Peter the ropes to be an Avenger. Teach him how to be a hero, how to get the villains, analyze battles, and various of other hero stuff. In return, you are going to learn how to act as a normal teenager. When it comes to learning academically, meh… you're already smarter than the valedictorian, so I really don't care about that. I want weekly reports from you about your and Peter's progress. Peter's is about his hero progress and yours is about you making friends and learning to be a teenager. Have fun. Don't break anything, especially Peter." Phantom nodded at his orders, and asked, "Do you want a physical report or just vocal reports?" Tony thought about it and replied, "Both." Phantom nodded at him and replied, "I'll send you my assessment about where he is tonight."

Tony nodded at her and left her alone to unpack and situate her apartment. She unpacked all of the boxes that Tony had given her to put around the apartment. There were several picture frames with pictures of her with various other "Avengers." There were even some with her and Peter over a year ago when they had movie nights. She scattered them all around the apartment by putting some on her book shelves, dressers, coffee table, and hung several on the walls. She unpacked one of the boxes and she was immediately surprised by what was inside. There were photos of her old family in new picture frames. She picked up a solo picture with her whole family together after family's recital that her mother arranged after she won a Tony for Best Leading Actress. Her mother had her brother play the piano, guitar, and he sung a song. Her mother, brother, father, and mother all sung a family quartet of "No One is Alone" from Into the Woods. Her father rarely ever sung, but he made a giant exception after her mother won the Tony. Phantom sung "Castle on a Cloud," "Mother Song" by the Chipettes, played her violin, did a ballet piece, and sung with her mother. She smiled at the memory and sighed. She knew Tony wanted her to embrace her former self more, but it was a lot to process. She put up/hid them among the living room with other pictures, multi-frames, and in a photo album. She pulled out several of the trinkets that her parents had collected on their travels before they had their children and she put them around the apartment as well. She opened the biggest box that was almost as tall as her and as wide as Cerberus length, and she saw her mother's portable instruments. It had her mother's violin, flute, piccolo, oboe, clarinet, trumpet, saxophone, horn, trombone, cello, and bassoon. She put them into the second guest room, and chose to leave them there until she was ready. After she put away all of her clothes, she and Cerberus laid down on her couch to wait for Peter to get home.

Peter came home a little after four o'clock and when he did, Phantom walked down to Peter's window, knocked on it, and saw him look at her. He looked really confuse when she motioned up to follow her. Peter opened his window, saw that she climbed into the window above his, and she yelled, "Come on in." Peter climbed up and went into the room to see that it was fully decorated out. He noticed that the room he stepped into was way bigger than his. He knew the apartment above his was way more expensive, because some of the apartments were torn down and rebuilt to create bigger spaces. He saw that there was a queen size bed with a two tiny book shelves, two nightstands, and a walk in closet. Phantom noticed him staring and asked, "If you want, this can be your room. Just in case, you know, your Aunt May allows you to stay the night. My room is on the other side of the apartment and the other room is a second guest bedroom with a smaller non-walk in closet. They share the bathroom right outside. Come in and go sit on the couch in the living room. Cerberus will make room for you. I need to grab my white board." Peter nodded his head at her and sat down on the couch, next to Cerberus. While she grabbed her white board, Peter began loving on Cerberus, who he hasn't seen since Phantom's disappearance.

When she came in, she rolled in a giant portable white board. She grabbed a white board maker and wrote at the top of the board: "Road to Becoming an Avenger." After she wrote that, she turned to Peter and stated, "Okay, Peter. I'm here to teach you about the ropes of being an Avenger. I will be thoroughly assessing you on your hero knowledge, rescuing 101, being an idol, general knowledge, and combat. The assessment will take at least a week, I will be following you everywhere, starting after school tomorrow. I will be attacking you out of the blue to assess your combat strategy, along with an associate of mine. We won't kill you, nor injure you to the point where you can't fight anymore, but you will be feeling pain. While we go on your scouting and hero work, I'll be asking you basic questions of what to do before you take action. I will be delivering your progress reports to Mr. Stark, and I want you to assess yourself and your own progress as well as my own. Tony wants you to send reports to him about how I'm adapting to acting as a teenager. You can just call and leave him voice memos. Any questions?" Peter nodded at all of the information that Phantom had just given him. As she spoke, she wrote down what all she was assessing him on. He then raised his hand and asked, "Actually, why are you bringing in someone else to fight against me?" She smiled at him and replied, "Because, after a while, you start to notice my fighting patterns. By bringing others in, it will keep you on your toes." Peter nodded at her explanation and asked, "So, when do we start?" She smiled at him and replied, "I was going to start tomorrow, but since you're so eager, we'll start today. Get the suit on while I change into a combat outfit, and meet me on the roof. We'll go patrolling and I'll assess you while we work."

Peter nodded at her, rose to his feet, climbed down the fire escape, changed into his suit and went to roof to find himself alone. He chose to wait, so he leaned himself against the door of the apartment roof and let his guard down. Peter relaxed until his spidey sense spiked, so he ducked last minute to see Phantom's leg sweep to his head. After he ducked, she grabbed his leg, lifted his body into the air, threw him to the ground, hopped onto of him, and held a knife to his throat. Peter was really confused, so he asked, "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" Phantom smirked at his reaction and replied, "Rule number one of being a hero: always be on your toes and ready to take action." Peter held his look of confusion, so she got off of him and reached her hand towards him. He took hers and she helped him up and stated, "I wanted to see your reaction time. It's not bad, but you could be faster. We'll work on it, but I wanna get a full feel for whatever makes you react, so I'll set up other tests for it. But for now, let's go patrolling." She walked over to the edge of the building, activated her Iron Boots, and took off north. Peter came back from his confusion, and swung towards her direction. When he saw that someone was going to attempt do a mugging, she flew over to him, and asked, "Okay, there is a man about to mug that poor gentleman, who seems to be exhausted from a long day of work. What do you do first?" Peter looked at her confused and responded, "Help him?" Phantom just gave him a look that screamed "Really?!" She just asked, "How, Peter? HOW?" Peter just swung down, webbed the mugger against the wall, but with his free hand, he was about to shoot at Peter, until Phantom flew down, grabbed the man's wrist, twist it, and took the gun from him. She whipped the gun to knock out the mugger, while stating, "Rule number two: Always assess the situation before jumping in. If you would have waited and analyze the mugger, the area, the target, and what the steps of the mugging were, you would have noticed that he had two guns. One on each side, along with a large knife, and his partner parked on the other side of the alley." Phantom used the gun to shoot the back wheel of the car that was about to drive away. She helped the targeted man up, and replied, "I'm sorry about that. He's currently in training." The man stated that it was okay, thanked the two teens, and then ran off home.

The rest of the day consisted of her asking questions to Peter while they did hero work, her giving him a lecture whenever she thought he did something wrong, and attacked him whenever she could, so she could see how fast his spidey sense would work. When it got close to mid-night, they returned to the apartment building. Peter was about to hop in until she asked, "Are you going to just go in?" Peter raised his eyebrow at her and asked, "Yeah, why?" Phantom sighed and stated, "First: you don't want Aunt May to know, right? Not wise to just climb in for her to see Spider-man climbing into her nephew's room. Second: What if someone saw you climb into the window from a distance? That gives enemies an incentive to attack this apartment building. Third: You have friends come over, right? You shouldn't have anyone your own age learn about your powers and secret identity. With all the peer pressure going around, they would pressure you to spread your secret. Always scope out the area before you head into your room. The same applies to me at all times, but I already do what I need to due to the preparation and training that I received. Now, you know for the future. Always be paranoid, always watch your back, and always assess every situation." Peter nodded his head at her warnings, followed what she stated, and when he saw that the cost was clear, he hopped into his room. Phantom went into his room next and stated "Okay, so tomorrow: Tony and I are coming to your school, I'm going to register for my classes. I am going to be in your homeroom, try to be in your PE class, but as an independent study. I'm also going to try to get into your English class. I'm going to say that due to your Stark Internship, you are to show me around and expose me to the American teenager experience. Nothing more, nothing less." Peter nodded at her statement and asked, "You're going by Phantom Stark, right? Were you assigned to me or did I apply to show you in exchange for working with Stark Industries?" Phantom thought about it and replied, "I was assigned to you by Tony, who liked your honest and precious personality. Plus you were the closest to my age, so you were the best option." Peter nodded at her response, so then she left while stating, "I'll see you tomorrow, either in your last class or at your locker at the end of the school day. Don't come looking for me, just meet me when you meet me."

Phantom went to sleep as soon as she climbed into her bed, and when she woke up, she saw that she woke before the sunrise, so she decided to make breakfast. When she went to her kitchen, she saw that the kitchen was entirely stocked up, but she knew that she didn't go grocery shopping. She went to her room, picked up her phone that was charging, and saw that Tony sent her message while she was working with Peter. The message stated, "I assigned Happy to go grocery shopping for you once a week. Keep a list of what you'll need and he'll pick it up for you." Phantom sighed and stated aloud, "I'll deal with Tony later." She went back to the kitchen, made her standard family fluffy omelet, some sausage, a bowl of grapes, and four glasses of beverages. Two of milk and two of juice, one apple and one orange. She went to her guest room that was above Peter's, she climbed out the window, went to Peter's window, knocked on it to see him only in a towel, and she opened the window. While Peter covered himself up, Phantom stated, "You really don't have to cover up, in all honesty. I made breakfast upstairs, my old omelet recipe, some sausage, grapes, and some beverages. Come on up so you can eat before you head out." While she spoke to Peter, she had to admit that she was checking him out, "Damn. Little Peter really grew. Mmm Mm. He got abs and muscles now too. Mm." Peter nodded at her, and she climbed back up to her apartment. She looked into the fridge to see what all she could make Cerberus while she was gone. She made four peanut butter sandwiches for Cerberus, along with apples, a small salad, and small sweet potato dog biscuits for dessert. She even made some peanut butter and banana biscuits for some snacks during the day. While she finished making all of the food, Peter came in, sat at the table, and ate the food that she made for him. She took out some of the sausage, gave it to Cerberus along with some grapes, and stated, "Okay, Cerberus. Here is your breakfast, the other food is your lunch and several snacks throughout the day. Don't eat it all at once, or you will be eating dog food later." Cerberus nodded at her and ate his breakfast.

Phantom sat down at her spot across from Peter who was finishing up his food. She began to eat with her mask on and she asked, "You remember the plan, right?" Peter smiled, nodded, and replied, "I don't look for you. I don't make indication that I've known you before I was assigned to you. You and I are going to train afterschool. I cannot tell anyone about being Spider-man, nor the connection with you and 'him.' I am also not to draw any attention to our relationship." Phantom smiled his answers, and replied, "Good. I will be around probably lunchtime or after. Have a good day." Peter got up, replied back, went down to his apartment, and left to go to school. After Phantom ate, she rinsed all of the dishes and put them into her dishwasher. After she did that, she went to her bathroom, took a shower with Cerberus, and put on her makeup. She put on a rouge color scheme for her eyeshadow, black cat eyes, and a black mask. She put on a tight no shoulder black top that went a little past her elbows. She put on a pair of pantyhose and a rouge tennis skirt that went to her thighs. She also put on a pair of thigh high suede three-inch boots. She put waves into her hair to give it some volume. She grabbed her Vera Bradley Leather Backpack, her phone with the charger, her Stark Laptop, and a five sections journal. She waited until she heard a knock at the door. She went over to see Tony wearing a designer suit, ready to take her to school. She smiled at him, turned on Cartoon Network, kissed Cerberus on his head, and stated, "You be good, okay? Happy's going to be over in an hour to walk you. If you have to go before that, do it in the guest bathroom." Cerberus nodded at her, and she walked out while shutting the door behind. She turned to him and asked, "You ready to go?" Tony nodded at her and they walked down to his sports car.

He drove her to Midtown School of Science and Technology. When they walked into the office together, all of the principals came in to greet them. They began to shake their hands while the main principal stated, "Mr. Stark. It is an absolute privilege to have your daughter attending our humble school. We are ready to observe and further her education as much as possible." Phantom smiled at them as Tony replied, "Yeah. It's not exactly MIT or a gifted school, but my little girl insisted. Let's take a tour of the school, shall we? Phantom doesn't know what exact classes she wants to take, so I want to explore the school while looking into the classes to see what fits for her." The principals nodded and they gave Tony and Phantom a full tour of the school. They went into one class, but they had to leave when none of the students would pay attention due to two Avengers being within their classroom.

On the other side of the world, Killmonger was being presented by to the royal counsel of Wakanda. T'Challa felt as if no one he knew would fully know about this outsider except for one individual. Before addressing Killmonger himself, T'Challa decided to call the one person who could give their perspective. Phantom's phone rang, so Phantom glanced at the phone and saw that the call was from T'Challa. Phantom turned to the group of Principals and Tony, and whispered, "I need to take this real quick. It's actually really important." Everyone nodded and stated that it was okay, except for Tony who wanted more answers about the call. Phantom just ignored him, walked a little distance away, and answered the phone in Wakandan, "Yes, my king." The line was silent until T'Challa asked in English, "Strigoi, you are on with the counsel present as well as an outsider. Tell me, what do you know of a man by the title of Killmonger?" Phantom almost dropped her phone at that question. "T'Challa, why are asking me of that man?" T'Challa told her to just answer the question. "Killmonger is ghost mercernary. Meaning they infiltrate governments just to either start a war or destroy it all together. Killmonger shows no remorse on who he kills, and will kill on sight, if it is to achieve his mission, no matter who or what stands in his way. By his background folder, he's American born and train, but his father… was Wakandan, which I believe you already knew." T'Challa asked if she knew about his mission, so she replied, "I heard rumors, that he wanted to overthrow a country to becomes it's ruler. My liege, judging by you asking me about him, tells me that Wakanda might be in danger of this man. I will leave for Wakanda immediately and deal him myself: mercenary against mercenary." As soon as she said that both T'Challa and Tony yelled, "NO!" T'Challa continued, "Strigoi, stay in the United States. We will handle Killmonger." Phantom immediately argued, "But my king, I know how he works. He always finds a way in. Whether it be by someone of the counsel or through the royal family. Once he gets what he wants, he'll destroy Wakanda and claim the bounty of the land. Let me go after him. I'll kill him onsite, without hesitation." T'Challa only replied, "No. I must deal with him. This is my order: Stay in America. If you come to Wakanda, I will try you for treason." Before Phantom could argue, T'Challa hung up the phone on her. Phantom stared at her deadline phone until Tony approached her and asked, "What's wrong?" Phantom just looked at him and replied, "Wakanda might be in danger, but King T'Challa doesn't want me to interfere and stay here in the United States." Tony put his hand on her shoulder and stated, "If T'Challa believes that you should here, then you should stay here." Phantom couldn't just let it go like that, so she took out her laptop, connected them to her Kimoyo Beads, and tried to hack into Shuri's.

After T'Challa hung up the phone on Phantom the counsel looked to Killmonger and T'Challa asked, "Is what my private servant claims the truth?" Killmonger looked smug at the counsel and stated, "Trusting an outside assassin? That's what you're going for?" Shuri came forward and claimed, "Strigoi is a proud citizen of Wakanda. She has served our country for over a year, which is more than I can say for you." T'Challa raised his hand to silence her and he replied, "Strigoi has proven her loyalty to Wakanda. I trust her with all my life. She has pledged her life to Wakanda and to its safety and progression. If she believes you are a danger to Wakanda, I am entitled to believe her. As for your record, I've seen it. You betray everyone." Killmonger was about to respond back when Phantom hacked into Shuri Kimoyo beads, and projected herself to the counsel to see Killmonger. Phantom's eyes narrowed at him as both of her eyes turned completely blood red and she threatened, "Killmonger. I see you still haven't perished to your crimes, yet. Using Klaue as a way in, not too bad. I want you to see the truth in my eyes when I make this vow: You do anything to Wakanda or my king, I will find you, and I will break every bone in your body, slowly and painfully. I will twist and bust every blood vessel in your body. And finally, I will gauge your eyes out just enough so you can see yourself die as I destroy all your nerves as you beg for my forgiveness and mercy. Am. I. Clear?" Killmonger kept his smug look as he replied, "Crystal." Phantom turned to T'Challa and the counsel, bowed her head, and stated, "My Lords and Ladies. Please feel free to contact me if this outsider gives Wakanda any trouble. Strigoi out." Phantom then ended the call and went back to tour the school with Tony and the principals, who all had frightened look into their eyes (AN: Black Panther happens all the same without Phantom).

While they walked, a small department caught Tony's eye and he asked, "Is it okay for us to visit the Performing Arts Departments? I get it 'This is why our academic classes are superb…' blah, blah, blah. I want to see what other extracurricular activities you have to offer." Phantom raised her eyebrow at him, so he pulled her close to him and whispered, "I know about your child prodigy past. It would be great for you to pursue the arts again. Especially since you were on your way to Julliard by the age of ten." Phantom was about to contradict him, but Tony was already pulling her towards the area with the principals following them. They walked into the auditorium quietly, only to hear the instructor giving his speech to the students, "Alright everyone, I know that Nichole transferred and she won't be able to sing the solo, but we currently don't have an understudy. We just need to move on, and I'll find another soon. Let's start with 'All is Well,' starting right before the key change at 'Sing Hallelujah' sequence." Phantom recognized the piece and the key that they were singing, so she stepped in front of Tony and the others and belted the soprano solo as she knew it. The conductor looked back but kept conducting the choir who looked really confused. The conductor told the children to just sit on the risers, and he ran off of the stage and towards the group while yelling, "WHO WAS THAT VOICE?! I NEED THAT VOICE IN MY SHOW CHOIR, NOW!" Tony raised Phantom's hand into the air while proclaiming, "This is the voice. I fully authorize her being in the choir." Phantom glared at him and instantly changed her attitude to the director when he walked/ran up to the group. She was smiling at him and she asked, "Is it really okay for me to just join the choir out of the blue?" The director shook her hand and stated, "Yes, yes. Absolutely! We need you! Our leading soprano transferred and now we need someone who can sing her line, just like you can. Please, I'm begging here." Phantom just looked at Tony, who responded for her, "Yes, absolutely. She will join. I'll make sure of that. She'll start with you guys tomorrow, so just hand her the sheet music that she needs, and she will learn it as quickly as she can, which won't take long at all." The instructor ran up to the stage, took all of the sheet music that he had, and gave it to Phantom. She thanked him, and then the group left the choir to continue their rehearsal in the auditorium while she kept glaring at Tony.

They walked a little past the dance studio, until Tony stopped and yelled, "HEY! LET'S GO INTO THE DANCE STUDIO!" Everyone else turned to Tony as he walked into the studio. Phantom raised her eyebrow at him, but then she walked in after him. They looked to see a beginners dance class working on a small easy dance routine. The dance instructor was a male man who gave Phantom the impression that he was an uppity "I am a professional" type. The instructor looked at the intruders, and addressed his class, "Class. Work on the routine, and try not to mess up, while I work with the guests." He walked over to the Tony and Phantom and asked, "What can I do for the mighty Avengers?" Phantom raised her eyebrow at the man's attitude, while Tony fired back, "Oh I came to see the great dancer… I'm sorry what was your name again?" The teacher gave a sneer smile to Tony. Tony noticed the dance studio, which was really warn down and needed refurnishing, so he asked, "If you could include Phantom into the advance dance program, I would become a booster parent that will repair this whole studio with no expectation." The dance instructor looked really offended by Tony's request, so he stated, "I'm sorry. My advance dance students had to AUDITION to get in. Not use their money to get what they want. Not that you would understand, Mr. Stark." While Tony and the dance instructor went at each other, the music for the beginner dance class ended, so Phantom plugged in her StarkPhone to the speakers, and put on a contemporary Japanese song that she could dance to called "Suna No Oshiro." Both men looked out to Phantom, who was doing a ballet type of dance to the piece with her boots still on. The song was sad and sort of mournful, so that was how Phantom acted as she danced to it. Tony looked as if he was going to cry, but the dance instructor held his stoic expression until the end. Afterwards everyone clapped to her performance, especially the young boys, who get to see her underwear, and except the dance instructor. The dance instructor walked towards her quietly and stoically. When he reached her, he stated, "You can start tomorrow. You need to bring the proper dance attire with toe shoes, tap shoes, and ballet flats. Your hair can either by up or down, but make sure that it isn't in your way when you dance." Tony smiled at the dance instructor and stated, "I told you she was good. I'll call up my men to install the new floors this weekend with the new mirrors. It will done for your Monday class, so don't worry." Phantom smiled at him, unplugged her StarkPhone, and walked out with Tony and the principals while yelling, "I already have those items, so I'll be fully prepared for tomorrow. See you then, Teach."

While everyone walked out, the principals asked, "So Miss Stark, that is two classes down including homeroom, you need another five more. Anything else that you're interested in?" Phantom thought about it and asked, "Do you have a violin instructor? If not, I can summon a private tutor, but I just need to know." The principals shook their heads and Phantom whispered to Tony, "I need you to call Joel Smirnoff and tell him that Victoria Rios wants to reinstate her violin lessons. Make him sign a gag before you tell him that I, Victoria, personally requested him. If he wants me to reaudition for his violin lessons, tell him I'll do it Saturday." Tony nodded at her request and told Friday to schedule it. The group began to walk around the school once again and when they passed the gym, she requested, "Is it okay if I get an independent study for PE? I can bring in fake weaponry, and do some gymnastic routines as well. I also want to do English writing with my student guide, Mr. Parker, along with being in his homeroom and PE study time. This way we are together for three classes of the day." The principals all nodded their heads at her request and stated that they could completely get it done. That left her with two more classes that she needed, so she asked, "Do you guys have any theater programs? Like musical theater?" The principals all glanced back and forth at each other and stated, "Our musical theater program is tied with the only theater program we have. It's not a big class, so you can get in easily." Phantom nodded at them and replied, "Great! I'll do that too. Do you have a list of electives that I may take?" The principals took out one of the papers that they had, crossed out all of the time slots that she couldn't do, due to all of the other classes she signed up for, and handed it to her. She scanned it over, noticed that they didn't have many electives, and asked, "Is Mythological Studies still available?" All of them nodded their head and she responded, "That's my last class then."

The principals wrote down her classes, directed them back to the office, and submitted her classes to form her class schedule. Her first class was homeroom, second was her advance dance class, third was theater, fourth was English Writing, fifth was show choir, sixth was her independent study with PE, seventh was her independent study of violin, and the eighth and final class was Mythological Studies. She observed the schedule and she smiled at it. Phantom glanced up to the clock and saw that it was a little later in the afternoon, so she turned to the principals and asked, "Excuse me, but what class period are the students in and when is the next bell?" The main principal responded, "They are currently in fifth period and the bell is going to ring momentarily." Phantom nodded at the information, pivoted her gaze to Tony, and said, "Well, thank you for coming with and helping me with my arrangements for school, Mr. Stark. I will leave you the reports I promised, my overseer will call you once a day, and I will come to give you physical reports once a month on the first Saturday." Tony nodded at her statement, reached out, pulled her into a hug, and whispered, "I tolerate you." Phantom stayed quiet for a moment, until she responded, "Not yet. Give it time." Tony nodded at her, let go, and left.

As soon as he walked out the buildings door, the bell rang, and the students filed into the hallway to reach their next classes. She turned to the principals and asked, "So, which way is your gymnasium? I packed some PE clothes, unless you guys have a standard gym uniform." The head principal walked up to her, and stated, "I'll escort and introduce you to our PE teacher, Miss Stark." Phantom nodded, moved a little for her to get pass her, and then she led her to the gymnasium. She walked in to see all of the students coming in with their uniforms on, stretching for their class, and conversing with each other until they saw her. She saw that her presence was exciting them all, so she felt like being nice, so she waved at them gently. The principal smiled at her kindness and led her to the gym teacher. He was a tall African-American man with small oval shaped glasses, the school uniform for the teacher, and had a clipboard. He turned towards her, and as soon as Phantom and the principal reached the teacher, the principal automatically turned her personality on. "Mr. Wilson. This is Phantom Potts-Stark. She will be your new student for the upcoming year. She is going to be in our new independent study program. She will take the fitness test you assign, but she's going to alter it to give herself a challenge rather than ace her way through. She needs a new school uniform, but she will be wearing her facemask, which the school board has already approved." Phantom smiled at the principal, reached her hand to shake the teacher's, and introduced herself, "Hello, Mr. Wilson. My name is Phantom and it is a pleasure to be in your physical education class. I hope my alterations to your program doesn't interfere with the other students performances." Coach Wilson shook her hand and replied, "Oh yeah. If the kids pay too much attention to you, I'll make them do harder stuff to get their attention back on track." Phantom smiled and replied, "Oh… like my old Guild Master… this is going to be an interesting year." The coach pulled away his hand, they both went to his office, and he took out a new clean uniform. He looked at her form and asked, "What are you, extra small?" Phantom giggled at him and replied, "My band size is extra-small, but due to my womanly features, I'm a small." The teacher checked her out for a moment, went back to the box of clothes, and handed her a set of gym clothes.

She smiled at him, thanked him, and went out of the office to see all of the students waiting for her to come out. She smiled, waved at them, and when she saw Peter looking at her with a stunned expression, so she gave a sultry smile towards him, and gave him a flirtatious wave towards him. The teacher came out next and yelled, "GET YOUR BUTTS TO THE BLEACHERS! PHANTOM NEEDS TO GO CHANGE!" She nodded, thanked him, and left to go to the girl's changing room. She changed into the clothes and realized that she need to go another size up. She sighed at her predicament, changed back into her regular clothes, and went back out to the class, who were getting up to play soccer. She walked over to the Mr. Wilson, handed him the clothes he just gave her, and stated, "I need to go another size up. My breast lifted the shirt to expose my midriff and made it too tight. The shorts exposed my butt at the bottom, so I don't think that this is the right size." The teacher nodded at her explanation, grabbed another larger set, handed it to her, and she went to change. She put on the clothes, put her regular clothes and backpack away, put up her hair, and went out to participate in her new class. As soon as she walked out, she noticed everyone, especially the boys, looking at her. She look down to her outfit. The shirt and shorts were still really tight, the shorts were still pretty short to expose her long legs, but the outfit was better overall than the small. She went over to Mr. Wilson, and asked, "Is it okay if I have my own soccer ball, so that I may kick towards the wall with a protected mat and do juggling lifts?" Coach Wilson smiled at her, handed her a soccer ball, and she went to a designated area with no other students. She placed the ball in front of her, lifted the ball into the air, and juggled it while keeping it lifted. When she felt herself getting too comfy, she would flip her body to kick it to the wall, then go back to the lifting routine.

After doing it for a while, Coach Wilson blew the whistle to stop all the athletics that were happening. Phantom lifted the ball to balance it on her head, as she walked over to where all the other students were, while Coach Wilson was talking about the game results between the students. No one was paying attention to him, but rather her, and she felt bad. After he dismissed the students to go change, Phantom, punted the ball gently towards Wilson, and waited up for Peter to go towards her. She smiled at him, crossed her arms, and Peter made it formal as possible. He reached out his hand towards her and announced awkwardly for the other students rather than her, "Hello Miss Phantom. My name is Peter Parker and I am your pop culture guide from the Stark Internship." Phantom giggled at his cute awkwardness, took his hand into hers for the handshake, and replied in a flirty tone, "Well, I'm glad Mr. Stark assigned me such a cute guide. It is certainly a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Peter Parker. I look forward to our… relationship growth." Peter blushed out at her flirty tone and the blush reddened by her statement about the relationship growth. Since it had been a while since she saw him blush, she giggled at his reaction, and pulled her hand away. She pivoted towards the woman's changing room, waved at him without looking, and replied, "I'll see you around, Mr. Parker." She heard Peter mumble a goodbye, which made her giggle, because she knew he was still embarrassed, and she went into the changing room.

She changed into the attire she came into the school with, and went out to see Peter leaning against the wall next to the changing room's door. She put her hand on her hip, and asked seductively, "Are you to show me to my next class, Mr. Parker?" Peter blushed at her voice pattern, nodded his head, and asked, "Yes, I am. What's your next class?" Phantom smirked at him and replied, "Technically, I have my private lessons for violin, but as for the moment: my instructor hasn't been notified that I'm his student. So, why don't you take me with you to your next class?" Peter smiled at her request, turned towards the stage area, and stated, "Well, I have study hall next. Why don't you come with me?" Phantom smiled and walked with him to his next class. While they walked together, Peter was asking her about how she was commuting to her new class and life. He also asked several questions about the Avengers as a cover up for him, which made Phantom smile because she knew he was covering his tracks. While she elegantly answered his questions, she listened in to other people that they passed as they walked to stage area for study hall. She listened in to several of the male boys talking about her. "Man, she's got hella legs," one boy commented, while his friend stated, "Hello, lips, legs, breast, and ass." She giggled at the all of the teenage boys comments because she knew that none of them had a chance of a shot with her.

When they arrived to the stage area, she saw that there were several seats and tables set up for studying. Peter grabbed her hand and walked with her over to the teacher overseeing the student study group. Peter let go of her hand last second and introduced, "Mr. Harrington. This is Phantom Potts-Stark. She's a new student here, and she is usually supposed to be in her independent violin lessons, but her instructor isn't here yet and I'm her student guide. Is it okay for her to hang out here until her next class?" Mr. Harrington smiled, reached out his hand, and replied, "ABSOLUTELY! Any Stark is welcome to our Academic Decathlon Team and practice." Phantom took his hand into hers, shook it, and replied, "It is an honor to meet you Mr. Harrington. I am unable to join your academic team due to my violin lessons, but it is an honor to be in your class now." Phantom pulled away her hand, and walked with Peter to an empty table. Phantom sat down, while Phantom pulled out her scientific journal that she used her genetic mutation research. She was about to begin to write her chemical formulas, until she was interrupted by a preppy Indian boy who took Peter's seat, sat down next to her, and scoot in close to her while reaching his arm around her shoulders. "Well, hello, Miss Phantom. The name is Thompson, Flash Thompson. Maybe you've heard of me?" Phantom pinched his hand, removed his arm from her shoulders, and replied with disgust, "No. And hopefully I can keep it that way. Also that's Mr. Parker's chair, so if you would be so kind to give it back, I would greatly appreciate it." Flash looked at her with confusion from her response. After his recovery, he glared over to Peter, who just held his hands up to say, "I didn't make her do it. I'm innocent."

When Phantom felt that it was long enough, she raised the chair up and tilt it over to have Flash fall off it. She put the chair down next to her, pat it down for Peter, and replied, "Here you go, Mr. Parker. Will you please sit so we may discuss your school rules, policies, and other activities that a normal teenager would know and attend to?" Peter just looked around awkwardly, then glanced to Phantom who held a stoic look on her face, and a teasing look in her eyes. Peter sat down next to her, took out his student handbook, and went on to explain all of the rules and events that he thought that she would have enjoyed. While Peter explained each rule, she scoot in closer and closer per question because she felt eyes of all the student glance over to Peter and her once in a while. She eventually was touching arm to arm with Peter at the end of class. Peter glanced down to look her eye to eye and saw that their faces were really close together. She gave him a small gentle smile that he noticed through her mask. After a moment of gazing into each other's eyes, the bell signaling for the next class rang, which caused the connection between the two teen supers to break.

Peter was the first to stand up, which Phantom followed while asking, "Mr. Parker. Are you going to take me to my final class or should I ask someone from this team to take me?" Peter looked her and responded, "I can take you. What's your final class?" Phantom pulled out her class schedule and stated aloud, "I have Mythological Studies with Ms. Nelson." Peter smiled at her statement and replied, "Mrs. Nelson? I love her. She's a great teacher. She's a history teacher." Phantom smiled at him and they walked together to her final class. When they walked in, the teacher immediately recognized Peter and greeted him first, "Oh, Mr. Parker. Come back for round two of my class, except this is my Mythological Studies class, not Ancient Civilizations. What are you doing here?" Peter guided Phantom forward to Mrs. Nelson, while stating, "Sorry I'm not here for your class. This is Phantom Potts-Stark and she is your new student starting today." Phantom gave the woman a sincere smile, extended her hand, and stated, "It is so nice to meet you and be in your class." Mrs. Nelson took her hand, shook it, and replied, "It is truly nice to meet an Avenger. I welcome you to our class, and if you could give me any information about Thor, Loki, or Asgard, I would greatly appreciate it." Phantom's smile grew and she replied, "Oh yeah. First thing you need to know is that Thor loves pop tarts. Don't know why, but every time I went to the store, he made me get him ten boxes of pop tarts. S'mores were his favorite." The woman laughed at the information and stated, "Well, I'm gonna have to put that in a new book for my doctorate." Phantom laughed at her statement and replied, "That's funny. I like you." Mrs. Nelson pulled away her hand while stating, "It's hard not to." Phantom smiled at her, turned to Peter, and stated, "Thank you bring me to class, Mr. Parker. I hope you have a wonderful class." Peter returned her comment, turned and left the class to head to his final math class. Phantom went to her seat and read the book that Mrs. Nelson gave her. The rest of her class was talking about their newest subject: The Aztec Underworld: Mictlan. She listened to the legends eagerly and was very interested with the subject matter.

After class, Phantom walked over to where she knew where Peter's locker was. He locker was supposed to be right next to his, so when she arrive and saw that he wasn't there, she just funbled to open the godforsaken locker. She kept struggling to open the locker until Peter snuck up on her and whispered, "You can't open it by using the actual lock." Phantom glanced at him questioningly, and asked, "Then how exactly do you open it?" Peter gently pushed her away, then he did a hit sequence which caused the locker to open slightly. Phantom pulled the door open, looked at it skeptically, and replied, "Okay. Note to self, when I put in my weapons and stuff: replace and fix the door. Okay, Peter. After school, we'll grab a quick bite, I'll head home to make Cerberus something to nibble on, and then we'll begin our hero work. Be ready for it." Peter nodded at her whispered day plan. Peter and her walked to Delmar's Deli-Pharmacy, she got an egg sandwich that she ordered a while back, while Peter got his usual number five smooshed down. After they got their food, they walked back to the apartment, Phantom made Cerberus bite size steak bites, and then Phantom and Peter went to their hero work.

They continued their patterns, of early morning breakfast, free-running to school, go to their daily class schedule, after school snacks, hero work, dinner, and talk about their days and what happened during their hero work for about two weeks. While Phantom went to school, she noticed a lot of things that she expected for schools, and other things that puzzled her. Once, while she and Peter walked to Delmar's, Phantom decided to ask about one of biggest things that puzzled her to Peter. "Say Peter. I got a question." Peter looked at her with a suspicious look in his eyes. Phantom was one of the most intellect people that he ever knew, so for her to ask a question of the blue that didn't involve hero-work surprised and worried him, "Yeah, what is it?" Phantom stopped, sat down at a table outside of the deli, gestured Peter to sit, and when he did, she asked, "Why aren't you one of cooler kids in school? You pretty much know everybody, you get along with so many people, and you're really ho… honest. I just don't understand why you're not popular." Peter just looked at her questioningly and replied, "Well… being honest, knowing everybody, and getting along with a lot of people doesn't make you popular. From my experience, money, looks, and a cocky personality make you popular. Most of the popular kids throw the greatest parties. I really don't want to be popular. If I get popular, then that could mean that people would look at me more, and that could lead to someone finding out my secret." Phantom put her head on her hand while her elbow was on the table and pondered what Peter had responded to her. "So… being popular is all about swagger then? I don't think being popular will cause the others to find out your secret. Popularity could just increase your personal life. I think you should become more popular, so I have an idea. Let's throw a party. The greatest party your school has ever seen." Peter was taken back by what her proposal so he asked, "Where are we gonna host this amazing party exactly? Our apartments aren't going to hold even a fourth of our class." Phantom leaned forward, gleamed a giant smile, and stated, "Oh… I know just the place."

Phantom made all of the arrangements for their giant party that was going to be that weekend. She spread the word that she was cohosting a giant party and that everyone at the school was invited, but she would announce the location through the school social website. She hired a DJ, caterers, all of the decorations, and even hired a bouncer for a VIP section. She never told Peter where the party was going to be, but as the time got closer, she kept getting more and more excited for it. She even went out to buy a dress for the party, and even picked out an outfit for Peter. When Saturday came, she picked up Peter in a burnt orange and black color schemed 2017 Nissan GT-R. She had Peter tell his Aunt that he was going to stay the night at her place at the tower. She drove up to the Avengers Tower, went into the parking garage, and when she parked Peter asked, "So, where exactly is the party?" Phantom just looked at him funny and replied, "Here, at the tower. On the main lounge floor." Peter had to do a double take to her and replied, "What? Mr. Stark actually allowed you to throw a giant high school party at the tower without any adult supervision?" Phantom laughed at him and replied, "Hell no. I'm just hosting the party without him knowing it. He's all the way across the world right and he is not coming back until another month. Besides, I already took care of everything, so there is no need for him to know." Peter just looked at her incredulously, but she was already leaving the car towards the elevator. Peter ran to the elevator after her, and she took them up to her floor. She told him that the guest were already arriving, everything is already downstairs, and that they shouldn't head down to the party until another hour and a haft. She went to her room to go change and after she finished getting dress, she came out of her room to see Peter already had gone down to the party. She double checked herself in her mirror to get a full feel of herself and made sure that she looked good onto of feeling good. Once she fiddled with her hair a little, she put on her pheromone rub on perfume and Delicious Perfume on behind her ears, around her neck, in between her breast, and on her wrists.

She went down to the floor above the lounge area so that she could go down the stairs. When she arrived, she began to go down the stairs to get a full view of everybody. Peter, who was catching up with Ned, glanced over to where Ned was looking and saw why all of the men were gawking in one direction, or more particularly, one person. Phantom was walking down the stairs in such an elegant way that made her hips swish back and forth while parts of her toned sexy body bounced as she walked. She wore a tight red bodycon short dress that went around her upper thighs. The dress was complete constricting to her curvaceous form to expose her figure and the cleavage of her breast. Her hair was swept over to one side and covered up her blue eye. The one eye that was shown had red eye makeup with giant eyelashes to accent them. When Phantom made it down the steps, all of the single men ran up to her and began to flirt as much as they could to try to get her to dance with them. She had to bob and weave her way out of the group of teenage boys to try to get over to Peter and Ned, who were standing in the corner by the window overseeing Manhattan. She walked over to the two while she grabbed a drink from one of the catering waiters. As she walked up, she could feel both of them checking her out. "Wow. She looks so incredible in that dress. I can definitely see why everyone is checking her out. Her legs look so long, the dress hugs her every curve and even bounces whenever she does." She stopped in front of the two boys, crossed her free arm across her midriff, popped one hip, and asked/yelled over the loud music speakers, "Hello boys. You enjoying the party?" Both of the boys nodded at her, and she asked, "Have either of you danced since you've gotten here?" Both of them shook their head, so she stated to Peter, "You should ask Liz to dance with you." Peter shook his head and yelled, "She and Flash got back together. I don't feel comfortable dancing with anyone else."

Phantom put her drink down on a table next to them, walked over to the DJ, requested him to put on "Dance the Night Away," went back to Peter and Ned, and asked, "Would you feel comfortable dancing with me?" Peter looked at her skeptically for a moment, until she let out a smirk that made him think, "Either you do it willingly, or I'll make a scene to make you do it." Peter put down his drink, and replied, "Alright let's dance." Phantom stepped away from him, towards the dance floor, and began to dance to the words. While she did her hip hop dancing in her tight dance, all of the boys gawked at her, while she kept her gaze solely on Peter. When the bridge hit, she did a dance like strut to Peter, grabbed him by his tie, and walked with him behind her towards the dance floor once again. When the chorus hit, she stopped, pivoted to Peter's direction, and did a sultry dance around Peter without touching him. When the second verse hit, she went to Peter side and removed his jacket to the beat, while she whispered, "I didn't approve this jacket and tie, ya know? They gotta go to meet my standards." She then loosened the tie to the beat of the bridge, until she got it untied, then she threw it over to Ned, turned her body away from Peter, and backed her form into Peter's causing them to do dirty dancing. As soon as Peter felt her ass touch his pelvic area, he gasped aloud, and she led his hands to her form to hold onto her while she danced on him. Phantom felt the room and she saw that all of the men had envious eyes on Peter, and that made her dance slower and closer to Peter to make sure he was going to have a fun time. When the third verse hit, she turned her form around to see Peter stiff and embarrassed, so she put her hands on his cheek, sent sultry emotions to his mind, brought her lips to his ear and whispered, "You need to relax. It's a party. Just relax, have fun, and dance with me." The warmth of her breath made him shiver, and he didn't know why, but he body was getting unbearably warm. When the chorus hit again, Phantom put her thigh towards his crotch, and when it did, the sensation made him feel some relief from the warm of his body. As soon as she did that, he returned the gesture to her, brought her in close, and did the dirty dancing while their body were facing each other. Peter held her close to him, so that her body would relieve the uncomfortable warmth of his body.

At the end, they held each other close, until Peter felt the warmth was too unbearable, so he pushed her away gently and stated, "I gotta go." Peter then ran up the stairs and out of the lounge room. Phantom watched him leave, and she didn't know why he left. She believed they were dancing for fun and having a good time, but now in her opinion, he must not have, which is why he left. She felt upset and a little abandoned, so she left the dance floor, went to the locked bar cupboard, unlocked it, pulled out three fireball bottles, the bourbon, and some scotch. She went out to the balcony, drank all of the hard liquor, and lowered her body heat so that the alcohol wouldn't burn as easily as it usually does so that she could get a little drunk. Peter came back after he got himself "situated" in the bathroom, and when he came back, he saw that Phantom was getting danced on from several of the popular horny boys, while he saw that she was wobbly and had a near empty bottle of fireball in her hand. Peter put two and two together, walked up the group of dancing teens, and pulled Phantom away from them. "What are you doing? I thought you were leaving," Phantom slurred to him, and he could fully smell that she was drinking. Peter shook his head and replied, "No. I'm staying for the party. Why are you drinking?" Phantom pulled away from him, and replied, "BECAUSE IT MAKES PARTYING MORE FUN! DJ LET'S DO "YEAH" BY USHER!" The DJ nodded at her, and put on "Yeah" by Usher.

Phantom downed the rest of the bottle, threw it into the trash can, and began to dance on her own. She turned to Peter, traced her fingers against his chin to show that she was flirting with him. She pulled herself to whisper hotly in his ear with the "Come get me." She pulled away from him, swirled her hip to the right, put on hand through her hair, and the other gesturing him over to her while the words played, "Baby let's go." Peter knew that he needed to get her out of the situation before she got out of hand and wound up doing something she was going to regret, so he went to the dance floor and danced with her before any other boy could. When the chorus hit, Phantom dropped low, looked over her shoulder to Peter, and commanded sultry, "Come and get me." Peter went down, danced with her closely while bringing her up. At the end of the chorus, Phantom went behind Peter, raised her towards Peter's torso, wrapped her arms around Peter's neck, nuzzled her face into his shoulder, while Peter held her raised leg by her thigh. When the second verse hit, she let go of him, twirled away, and danced on her own, until Phantom grabbed his hand and tried to lead him off. Peter knew that Phantom needed to burn off the alcohol, so he pulled her into him at "But I gotta keep it real now." Phantom turned her back to him, and rubbed her body against his while going down at "The way she getting low." Phantom raised herself up, flicked her hair a little in Peter's face at the end of the second verse, which Peter took as a challenge, so he pulled her in once again to do grind like dancing against each other during the chorus. The third verse consisted of her copying the movement of the rap that Ludicrous was rapping. When the chorus hit for the last time, Phantom pushed Peter forward until the end when the bridge hit, Peter landed on the couch with Phantom doing some clapping at the clap moment while she laughed at Peter's surprised look.

While Phantom and Peter had they dancing moments, Tony, who had just woken up, looked at his phone that stated, "URGENT MESSAGE" at the top of the screen from Friday. He raised his eyebrow and asked, "Friday, what's going on? What's with the urgent message?" His phone showed a wave length and Friday responded, "You asked me to report about the Tower if anything were to happen." Tony raised his eyebrow even more, so he asked urgently, "What's happening to the Tower? Is someone robbing it? Did someone blow it up? DID SOMEONE BREAK INTO MY LAB?!" Friday remained quiet for a moment and replied, "I'm afraid not sir. It seems that the noise rate has rose greatly and there is giant capacity within the main lounge area." Tony was thoroughly confused, so he asked, "SO are you stating that there is a party at the Tower right now?" Friday replied yes, so Tony decided to call the one Avenger that he knew who was in New York. When the phone didn't pick up, he demanded to Friday, "Friday show me the security footage of the main lounge area." Friday replied certainly and showed him the current footage of the tower. He saw Phantom and Peter dancing together to a song he remembered hearing from the newer Footloose movie. He immediately got out of the bed, and called another person who he thought could stop the party. The phone rang three times, until a feminine voice replied, "Yes? What is it, Stark?" Tony went straight to the point, "Look Natasha. I know you're still pissed at me, but I need you to go stop a party at the Tower. Phantom has been drinking, she's not in the right state of mind, and this party needs to be stopped now." Natasha just looked at the phone until she responded, "I'm in the middle of something right now. I'll send someone who's in the vicinity to stop it." Tony replied thank you, hung up the phone, put on the Iron-Man suit, and flew to New York as fast as he could. After the call died, Natasha dialed up the one person who she knew was in New York for the time being, and the person picked up quickly but stated nothing. "Look. I need you stop a party at the Tower. The alarms are down, anyone can walk in, and it needs to be stopped. Phantom is within the vicinity and she is drunk, so tread lightly." The phone hung up and the person on the other end of the line began his way to the Tower without any questions.

After "Yeah," Phantom was straddling Peter, who was backed into the couch, while the DJ began to play "Skin" by Rihanna. Phantom, who was drunk, gazed into Peter's deep brown eyes while Peter, who was getting contact drunk, was gazing into Phantom's blurred amber eye. They gazed into each other's eyes, until Phantom leaned to Peter, and began to kiss him through her mask. Peter was very stiff until the alcohol mixed with her sweet scent intoxicated him, and he put his hands around her and proceeded to kiss her back. Phantom put her hands through his hair as they proceeded to make out with each other. As Peter proceeded to touch her, she felt herself getting warmer by the second, so she took her hand out of his hair, which made Peter moan into the kiss, and moved them around his upper form while he hand his hands around hers. While Peter moved his hands, there was one spot on her side slightly above her right hip, it tickled her a little, so she let out a soft moan when he hit that spot. Peter felt his body grow hot after she moaned and he felt that he wanted to see more of her vulnerable expressions, so he pulled her body in closer to his, to make it fit like puzzle piece to his body.

While they had their making out moment, a man walked out of the elevator to see a giant high school party taking place in the Avenger's Tower. The figure scoped out the area to see if he could find the target that could end the party. When he found her, he saw her making out with a high school boy on the couch. He knew that he needed to get her away and to her room, so that she could have sobered up. He went to the couch to the two unsuspecting young teens, and as soon as he got close, he used his only good arm to grab her upper right arm and pulled her off and away from the teen. When Phantom realized that someone approached them, it was already too late. The stranger pulled her off of Peter, and when she glanced back, she saw who it was. "Barnes?" Phantom asked aloud. Bucky looked at her with no expression, let her go, pulled out a handheld gun, and shot it off in the air to scare the guests. "Okay kids. Party's over. Now get out," Bucky yelled out to all of the kids. All the kids ran to the elevator and stairs to try to escape from the crazy man with a gun. Phantom narrowed her eyes and tried to throw a punch at Bucky, who dropped the gun to the floor, blocked the punch, snuck unto her retracting arm, grabbed Phantom, threw her over his shoulder, and stated, "You're too drunk to fight. I'm going to take you back your floor area, and you're going to sober up." Phantom tried to punch, kick, and thrash herself out his grip. Peter recovered from the shock of her being snatched out of his arms with the gun shot, and saw the Winter Soldier standing in Tony's living room. When he announced that the party was over, Phantom tried to swing on him, only to be thrown over his shoulder, and when Peter heard that the Soldier was only taking Phantom to her floor to sober her up, he knew that he had nothing to worry about. The Winter Soldier turned to Peter and stated, "I'm sorry about Phantom. She's been drinking and she's not herself. Just head home kid." Peter shook his head at the soldier and replied, "No. I'm staying here with her. I'll sleep in the guest bedroom when I know that she is safe in her own bed." Bucky raised an eyebrow at the boy's bold statement, nodded his head, and stated, "Fine. Come with me to her floor, then." Peter nodded his head and followed the soldier to the hidden elevator on the other side of the room away from the fleeing guest.

They both went to her room, Phantom protested the entire way there, and when they arrived, Bucky took her to her bedroom, placed her on her bed, and shut the door to keep her in. "JAMES BUCCANNON BARNES! YOU SON OF BITCH, OPEN THIS DAMN DOOR!" Phantom yelled as she pounded on the door trying to get him to open it. Bucky held the door shut to keep her in, he turned to Peter, and stated, "You can go head to bed. I swear that I won't do anything, but this could take a while." Peter nodded his head, and went into the guest bedroom. Bucky allowed her to continue yelling/banging against the door, until he felt like enough was enough. He swung the door open to see her confused by the door opening, so he used the moment to come into the room, shut the door, lock it, grab Phantom, and push her onto her bed. When Phantom realized her situation, she tried to get up, and swing on Bucky, but he grabbed both of her arms with his one hand and pinned them above her head. Phantom struggled against his grip and tried to thrash around, but she knew that she was powerless against him in her current state, so she stopped. Bucky watched her expression fall into a painful expression towards the right window of the room and he heard her voice within his head, "Why is it always you? Why do you and I always cross paths? Is it fate? The great red string? A celestial bond such as the Blood Moon connecting our souls forever?" Bucky looked down to her painful expression with her mask. Bucky leaned down, grabbed her mask with his teeth, and pulled it down to see her full face. She gazed up to see his eyes and he saw fear, pain, and attraction with her eyes. Bucky gazed down to her gorgeous face, he moved the strand of hair that covered her blue eye out of the way, and leaned his forehead against hers.

He thought calmly hoping that she could hear him as well as he could hear her, "Victoria, please. I'm not here to hurt you. You gotta calm down." Phantom only spoke out calmly to respond while she was shaking, "How can I calm down? The Guild is gone, the Avengers fell apart, and I have no idea what I'm doing with teaching Spider-Man how to be an Avenger. I wasn't even an Avenger, I was a mercenary. I'm still only a mercenary. I don't know what I'm doing, trying to be a hero again. I'm not hero. I can never be a hero with what all I've done. Then there's you. I've been chasing after you for over five years, and now I have no idea what to do with you. I don't want to kill you, but I know that I just can't let you go. Our fates are intertwined with each other and… I'm even attracted to you. God… the one man I've been after most of my life just to kill him, and I'm physically and sexually attracted to now. Ever since I connected our minds, I've felt nothing but lust for you. I want to kiss you, touch you, hell maybe even go all the way with you, and I don't know what to do about it." Bucky looked down to the poor drunk girl confessing before him, and he knew that he felt the same way towards her. Ever since she connected their minds, all he's ever wanted was to have her to himself and to never leave his side. Bucky, feeling the attraction for her grow stronger, leaned down and kissed the woman beneath him. He and the woman tangled the tongues with each other as they let their minds melt together, allowing them to become one once again. Bucky loosed his grip of her wrist, which she pulled away and held onto the front of his shirt while Bucky lowered his body onto hers. Bucky tasted all of the alcohol that she consumed earlier that evening mixed with her own taste of cherries. Phantom tasted strawberries from him, which she thought mixed beautifully with her own. "I shouldn't do this. I can't do this. I shouldn't want her… but I do. I can't want her, because… She's Steve's girl," Bucky thought to himself. Bucky began to push himself away, until Phantom wrapped her arms around him to stop him, and muttered with his lips near hers barely touching, "I belong to no man."

Bucky felt himself get instantly turned on, but Phantom pushed her lips against his to commence their connection once again. Bucky growled at her prowess, so he began to make out with her once again. Bucky let himself remain on top of her, until Phantom changed their positions by flipping Bucky to be on the bottom while Phantom straddled him. She rolled her hips against his, which caused Bucky to reached his hand up Phantom's soft leg to slowly to reach up the edge of her dress. He slowly lifted it up until it reached her slightly above her him, when he tickled her special spot above her hip. The spot made her whimper against his touch, which turned Bucky on even more than before. Bucky lifted the dress over her head and off her body. He threw the dress to the other side of the room while he continued to dance his tongue with hers. Bucky saw that she wore a tight black strapless lacy bra with a matching pair of thong panties. Bucky left her lips, and began to kiss down her jawline, to her neck, her shoulder, and down her collar towards her breast. While he did that, Phantom moaned and began to breathe heavily against the kisses he was giving her. She moved her arms and hands around him, feeling all the muscles that she could. Right as he was about to remove her bra, Tony arrived to her floor and yelled, "VICTORIA CARMEN RIOS-STARK! WE NEED TO TALK!" Tony went to her door and banged against it because he believed that she was asleep. Bucky and Phantom stopped their actions immediately as they heard Tony's voice. Phantom's drunkness wore off as her body heated up while she had her moment with Bucky.

Phantom hopped off of Bucky, ran to her bathroom to grab a robe, put it on, then a clean mask, went to the bedroom door, and opened it to reveal an angry Tony. Phantom crossed her arms and replied, "Yes, Tony? What is it?" Tony glared at her and asked, "What the hell did you do? Hosting a party at Avengers Tower. How reckless can you be?" Phantom put her hands on her hips, shifted her wait onto her right side and replied, "You ordered me to act as a normal teenager. Teenagers host parties, and my and Peter's apartments are too small to host a party, so I threw one here. I don't see what the big deal is. Nothing got stolen, the kids couldn't access anywhere except the main lounge, I locked away all of the liquor, and I hired professionals to serve, decorate, and clean up afterwards. I was responsible for this party." Tony raised his eyebrow at her, pulled out his phone to show the footage, and challenged, "Oh really?" Tony pulled up the footage of her drinking and dancing with Peter. Phantom kept a stoic expression and asked, "And again, what's wrong with that? Teenagers drink at parties and dance with each other. I did what you wanted me to do. Act as a normal teenager." Tony's eyebrow twitched at her accurate statement, but he knew that she was right. He did the exact same thing at her age. He sighed at her, pivoted, and yelled while not looking at her, "Just make sure the Tower gets clean tomorrow. I have to get back to India. Behave and NO MORE PARTIES!" Phantom nodded at him, waved, and replied, "Alright. No more parties. Have fun in India." Phantom went into her room, shut the door, turned around, and saw that Bucky was gone. She ran around to see if he was still there, but when she saw that he wasn't there, she looked to see the window wide open. She realized that the Soldier had taken off, and she knew that he wasn't coming back. Phantom went to the window, looked out, and sighed. She felt hot and bothered, and her body was craving his touch. Bucky looked back from his running, and he saw Phantom standing in the window looking out. He knew that he needed to get to his place, but he really wanted to go back to the Tower. The way Phantom and him kissed and connected to each other sexually, he knew that he wouldn't receive that type of connection ever again. He felt himself being aroused and regretful that he had to leave that situation like that, but he didn't want to get caught by Howard's son nor Phantom when she's sober. Phantom sighed, closed the window, went to her bed, took off the robe, bra, and mask, and fell asleep.

After that party night, Phantom hadn't seen Bucky since nor had she went to another party since Tony had grounded her from going to any others. She and Peter continued their hero work, and Phantom continued to go to school. Peter never told her about the party and their kissing moment. He believe that she wouldn't be attracted to him when she was sober. Phantom spent all of her non-hero training time, practicing her musicianship, such as violin, vocal, and dancing routine. A week before the Grand Performing Arts Recital, one of the star students who was performing four routines got into a little "pharmaceutical issue," so all of Phantom's teachers assigned her to replace her acts. Phantom had to memorize a dance routine for a singing piece, one violin with her singing, and a violin piece. She also prepared a solo vocal piece that she wasn't going to dance to, so that she would focus primarily on her vocal technique. While she prepared her individual pieces, she had to also prepare her solo and dance routines with her show choir group. She had Peter come in to some of the rehearsals whenever her partner, who always skipped class and rehearsal because "his parents were on Broadway", to come dance with her in his place. Without her consent, Peter left Tony a message about her recital, but he never heard anything back from the man.

When the recital came, before the show started, Phantom snuck a look out to the audience and saw Tony saunter in to gain the best seat in the house with Pepper sitting next to him. She took out her phone, and texted, "Are you both back together, yet?" Within a moments notice, she gained a reply, "Working on it. ;) Good luck kiddo, I'm gonna be the one cheering the loudest for my little girl." Phantom felt an emotional sweat drop from the ending of that text, but it made her smile. The seating lights flashed to signal for all of the audience to take a seat for the show to start. Phantom went out to her dressing room and put on her first gown for her first solo performance. She put on a blood red ballgown with a sweetheart neckline with beading around her breast, her midriff, and the bottom edge of the skirt. She put her hair into a chic messy bun to make it look professional. She put on her blood red facemask, went to the stage wing, and saw that the intermediate chorale were finishing off. She listened in to the audience and heard Tony whisper loudly to Pepper, "Why are all these groups so bad? When is Phantom gonna come out? She's got more talent in her one finger than all of the students here combine." Pepper shushed Tony and gave him a light slap on his forearm. Phantom smiled at the two's interaction and chose to focus her concentration on her pre-show jitters. As Phantom got herself ready, little did she know that others were arriving to take their seats. "Rogers, I hope this is worth it. I know you and Barnes miss her, but risking our safety seems like a bad gamble." Steve put on his fake glasses and baseball cap to disguise himself as did the others. "Look, as long as we all sit in different seats in the auditorium we'll be fine. Just lay low and don't cause any attention to ourselves. Since the school sold the tickets online, I was able to get all our seats. All of the ushers seemed to be taken their own seats for the show, so no one will need to look at us." Sam, Bucky, and Natasha nodded their heads and went to their designated directions for their seats. As soon as Steve sat down, he took notice that the current group was the intermediate group was still up and he heard a loud whisper from three seats to his right, "Why are these groups so bad? When is Phantom gonna come out? She's got more talent in her one finger than all of the students here combine." Steve stiffed at the sound of Tony's voice. "Dammit, why does Tony have to sit this close to me at Phantom's recital? Now I have to be even more careful."

The group finished their pieces, the lights went down as the ensemble left out the wings, and then the room went silent. The solo sequence of clicking of heals on the stage came aloud, and all of the spot lights went to Phantom who was walking to the center of the stage. Everyone stood up to clap for Phantom as she made her way to the center while Tony pulled out a video camera and chose to record Phantom's performances today. As soon as she made to the center, everyone clapped once again while she curtsied to them. After all the clapping stopped, Phantom nodded at the conductor, who nodded at her and then gestured to the orchestra who began to play a slow minor melodic line. Phantom waited until her cue, and when she saw it, she took a deep breath and sang out the lyrics to "O Divine Redeemer." Everyone in the auditorium listened to her every word and when she reached the A5 on "I pray thee grant me pardon," everyone felt her voice shake their bodies down to their very souls. Everyone looked into her eyes and they saw her deep regret and remorse. Her eyes became watery, she made small gestures with her hands without moving her feet or body too much. She looked up to the skies as if she was truly asking for forgiveness while she sang/pled. As she sang, Tony knew that she was really asking for forgiveness from her deceased family about the actions she had taken over the past couple of years. Bucky believed that she was trying to gain forgiveness from the other Avengers about her actions that she took after the Africa incident. Steve thought that it was a mixture of what both of the other men thought, and even more it was asking for forgiveness to anyone who was connected to her and whatever she did. In all honesty, Phantom was singing to her family, the innocent souls lost due to her and the Avengers actions, and finally to those she loved because she knew that she wasn't going to change her ways. At the end of her piece, she had a lone tear stream down her face as she sang her final note, meanwhile everyone else in the audience were crying at the emotion and beauty of her voice. The auditorium was silent until Bucky slapped his knee as his way of clapping, while a single tear streamed down his face when he listened to the guilt within the poor girl's voice. After he began clapping, everyone else stood up and clapped at her performance while they cheered. Phantom smiled, curtsied to the crowd, while she gestured to the conductor and the orchestra group so that they may receive applause. After a couple of moments of the crowds clapping, Phantom curtsied again, and walked off of the stage so that she could get ready for her next number.

As she got out to the wings, Peter was waiting for her. He had a bigger smile on his face than she did and he was still crying from her performance. "Are you happy or are you upset? I really can't tell," Phantom joked to the emotional teenager. He hugged her and exclaimed, "THAT WAS THE MOST BEAUTIFUL SONG I HAVE EVER HEARD!" Phantom laughed at his happy expression, she pat his back, and responded, "Thank you so much. It's 'O Divine Redeemer' by Charles Gounod. Now, I need you to let go, so I can go change for my next number." Peter let go of her quickly, she gave him a quick peck on the cheek, and ran to her dressing room where some of the advance dancers for her next number were waiting for her to come in and change. Phantom had help to take off her dress and she was already in her white tights and her leotard haft way on her body with her breast wrapped up in sports tape. Phantom pulled up her leotard to its full form. She put on her sheer white jacket that she tied under her breast while she sat in her chair as the girls helped put on and lace up her toe shoes. While Phantom put on her jacket, and some girls put on her shoes, two girls were putting her hair into a haft-do for her next performance while the last girl tuned her violin with an app on her phone. After everyone thought she looked good, she had the girls step outside while she changed her mask into her white one, and then they all went to the wings to watch the intermediate dance ensemble perform. After the ensemble performed, all of the girls clapped at the group, then they all ran out to the stage while the lights were down. When they came out, Phantom did a light nod to the girls and the AV guy, then she began to pluck her strings until the beat hit, and her and the girl's danced to the song. The song she chose to play was "Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy," the Lindsey Stirling version, because it allowed the girls to dance ballet while giving them an incentive to dance hip-hop. The girls and she laughed while they danced and enjoyed each other's company with the song. At the end, the girls ending up in each other's arms except for Phantom who had just finished playing, but the girl's included Phantom by putting their arms around her shoulders. All of themed laughed aloud while the audience clapped and laughed along with the girls' fun moment.

After the girls all bowed together they ran off of the stage, and Phantom had to do a quick costume adjustment for her next performance. Phantom put on a white headband, had her costume change for the mid performances. She put her black electric violin onto the stationed area and grabbed her white one with the white bow, and went out with her female dance partner to do her last violin act. Her partner was the second best dancer of the dance program, Jessica. Phantom had her dress in a long black tutu with black leotards and black toe shoes. Phantom took her place at upstage right and Hannah positioned herself at mid-stage left. Phantom turned on her portable mic for both her and her violin, while Jessica turned on hers. Phantom nodded at the conductor who was going to play the harpsichord for them. All three of them took their deep breaths at once and then they began "Black Vow."

Phantom and Jessica danced together as Phantom played her violin. Jessica was the first to sing the verses while Phantom and Jessica danced/acted the lyrics. When they hit the bridge, Phantom scanned the audience for a quick second to see who all was there and even in the dark, she saw four people who she didn't want to believe were there: Sam, Natasha, Steve, and Bucky. Natasha kept her stoic expression, Sam didn't know what to make of her performance, while both Steve and Bucky held looks of regret, hurt, and longing. Phantom closed her eyes for a split second, allowed all of her memories to haunt her a split second, and chose to dance, play, act, and sing her emotions about her relationship with the two men. In a split second before the second instrumental part before the second verse, Phantom tossed her white bow to the wing while one of her friends threw back the black bow and another with a black jacket. Phantom tossed up her violin, slipped the jacket on, while zipping it up, caught both the violin and bow, and played the violin part. After she played the line, Phantom tossed up the violin and bow back up in the air, grabbed her hair tie, put her hair into a low ponytail, caught the instrument, and presumed to sing the second verse to both Bucky and Steve. She and Jessica still danced/acted together, but all of her lyrics were directed to the two men. Phantom threw her white violin to the wings while someone threw her black one at her after the final violin instrumental part as another actor acted as if he was shooting Jessica. After she caught it, she went down to Jessica's form took out the hair tie, as she threw the white headband to the audience right before the last chorus. Jessica pulled out a lone black faux feather and they finished out the piece while Phantom looked at both Bucky and Steve instead of Jessica. After they finished, the room was silent, until Peter clapped from the wings, which caused everyone else to clap along. Jessica, Phantom, and the male who acted as the shooter all bowed with the conductor. After the three teens left the stage, Jessica asked, "Hey, Phantom. That was amazing, but what happened to the last chorus? You had your attention somewhere else rather than on our connection. NOT THAT I'M COMPLAINING OR ANYTHING… but it was… unexpected." Phantom smiled, put her hand on Jessica's shoulder, and explained with a cool expression, "Sorry. Someone in the audience distracted me. You were a fantastic female lead, Jessica. I enjoyed being your love interest." Jessica blushed at Phantom's reply and only nodded her head as her response as she mumbled her thanks.

Phantom put her violin in the case, ran to her dressing room, took off her black leather jacket, and sat down in her chair so that her hairdresser could do her hair the way she wanted to with hair extensions that were going to stick for the rest of the show. Phantom glanced over to where her costume designer, Mifmemo, was working on the finishing touches of the dress that she was going to dance in. It was a light pink base with several light shades of blue, green, and a darker pink around with gold trimming that swooped inward at the bottom. It originally had two pair of golden wings near her bust, but Phantom had her remove them so that it would make it easier for her to dance in it. Her shoes were a golden pair of toe shoes with a purple gem in the middle of the top of her foot. After her hair was done in complete ways, Phantom stood up took off her previous outfit, while Mifmemo helped her change into her next costume for her final solo number. As soon as she was fully dressed with her toe shoes on, she ran out, and told the MC and the AV coordinator that she changed the piece that she was going to sing. She gave the stage manager the sheet music and told it to give it to the advance group to play. She ran up to Peter and stated, "Hey Pete, I want you to go sit out in the audience for this number. I want you see it in its full glory like the audience will. There is another seat in the middle of the auditorium and it is next to Mr. Stark." Peter nodded, and ran out to go grab the seat that she wanted him to sit in. As soon he got to his spot, Tony turned to see Peter so he asked, "Why are you here?" Peter sat down, smiled, and responded, "Phantom wanted me to see this next performance with the audience in the auditorium, so she privately ordered a seat to remain empty for whatever reason she seemed fit." Tony smiled and stated, "She always has a plan, doesn't she?"

Peter nodded at the question as the lights went down once again to signal for Phantom's next performance. The head of the arts program came out and greeted the audience, "Ladies and Gentlemen. Thank you for coming to our final fine arts program of the year. This is the first time in history that we have had a sold out full house and I would like to extend my thanks to our very own, Phantom Stark. She has greatly stepped up as a student and a performer. For her final solo number, she will singing and dancing to apiece called 'Lullaby For A Princess.' She has chosen to change the words and dedicate this performance to her deceased brother and for any wrong doings that she has done to him. She ask that you watch with open minds and open hearts. Now, I am happy to present, Phantom Stark." Everyone clapped out as the director walked off of stage, Phantom walked on and got into position where she was on her knees as if she was praying. The stage crew turned on the fans on in the left wing to make Phantom's hair blow in a breeze. She had the feeling that she looked like a character, Celestia, from the "My Little Pony" series that she and Peter watched on Netflix. The music started to a gentle tone as Phantom rose to dance and when the tone came, she did a spin out and began to sing her line:

[Fate has been cruel and border unkind

How can I have sent you away?

The blame was my own, the punishment yours

The harmonizes silent today

But into the stillness I'll bring a song

And I will your company keep

'Til your tired eyes and my lullabies

Have carried you softly to sleep

Once did a girl who shown like the sun

Look out on her present and sighed

She smiled and said 'Surely there is nobody so lovely or so well beloved as I'

So great was her reign

So brilliant her glory that long was the shadow she cast

Which fell dark upon the old brother she loved

And grew only darker as days and nights passed

Lullay moon prince, goodnight brother mine

And rest now in moonlight's embrace

Bear up my lullaby, winds of the earth

Through cloud, and through sky, and through space

Carry the peace and the coolness of night

And carry my sorrow in kind

Zac, you're loved so much more than you know

Forgive me for being so blind

Soon did that girl take notice that others

Did not give her brother his due

And neither had she loved him as he deserved

She watched as her brother's unhappiness grew

But such is the way of the limelight, it sweetly

Takes hold of the mind of its host

And that foolish girl did nothing to stop

The destruction of one who had needed her most

Lullay moon prince, goodnight brother mine

And rest now in moonlight's embrace

Bear up my lullaby, winds of the earth

Through cloud, and through sky, and through space

Carry the peace and the coolness of night

And carry my sorrow in kind

Zac, you're loved so much more than you know

May troubles be far from your mind

And forgive me for being so blind]

Everyone watched as Phantom began really emotional by this point. Phantom felt all of her emotions of sadness, betrayal, and guilt break down like a dam. She held that dam ever since she found out what exactly was her brother's fate. She felt that her brother had turned to the bad parts of his life due to her and her achievements and her parents paying more attention to her than with him. She was even the reason for him dying and that made her feel even worse than before. She had tears streaming down her face as she danced/sang to her older brother's memory.

[The years now before us

Fearful and unknown

I never imagined

I'd face them on my own

May these thousand winters

Swiftly pass, I pray

I love you; I miss you

All these miles away

May all your dreams be sweet tonight

Safe upon your bed of moonlight

And know not of sadness, pain, or care

And when I dream, I'll fly away and meet you there

Sleep...]

When she finished, she was embracing herself as her own form of self-comfort while she continued to cry while she was on her knees once again. It took everyone a moment to process until Bucky, Steve, Tony, and Peter all rose at the same time and clapped while Tony wooed and whistled at her. The rest of the crowd rose and clapped for her as she rose to her feet and bowed to the audience. After that she slowly walked to the wings without allowing the audience to finish clapping. She ran to her room after she made it to the wings, shut the door, locked it to be alone, and took off the dress as quickly as she could. She sank down to the floor, against the door, and held her knees close to her while she was crying, shaking, and trying to calm herself down. One of the girls from her show choir group went up to the door and knocked, "Excuse me, Phantom? I know that you're changing, but we have a problem. Andrew showed up, but… he's insanely drunk. He won't be able to perform, so what should we do? Cancel our program, or are you willing to adjust on the spot?" Phantom kept shaking but she responded, "Go get Mr. Parker. He's in the middle section, seat M row 8." The young girl ran out to the audience while the advance male chorus group performed their number. She found Peter, slowly and cautiously went to Peter, shook him kindly, and whispered to him, "Um, excuse me, Peter? Andrew showed up drunk so he's unable to perform and Phantom wants to see you, now."

Peter nodded, told Tony that he had to go see Phantom, and ran with the girl to the backstage area towards Phantom's dressing room. He knocked and asked, "Um, Phantom. Did you ask to see me?" Phantom unlocked the door, and yelled at Peter to push himself in. Peter did as she ordered by pushing against her body to open the door and snuck in to see her still hugging her knees. He crouched down to her level, and asked while trying to figure out how to comfort her, "Um, what's wrong? Why are you still crying?" Phantom mumbled her response, which since Peter's senses were enhanced he heard, "Memories haunting me." Peter sat down next to her, put his arm around her shoulder, and held her as she continued to shake for a moment. After the shaking stopped, she pulled herself off of him, went to her outfit and that's when Peter fully realized that she was only wearing athletic tape on her breast and skintight white shorts. Peter blushed, blocked his vision line to Phantom and moved his head to the right to show that he wasn't looking. Phantom wanted to giggle at him, but she explained, "Peter, Andrew came in super drunk and he is unable to perform. I need a dance partner for the first choir number. I need you to suit up in Andrew's outfit and dance with me like you would during rehearsal when Andrew skipped. Please?" Peter nodded at her request while he wasn't looking. Phantom threw on the dress to make Peter comfortable. After she put on the dress, she handed Peter Andrew's outfit and told him to hurry up and change.

Peter changed into the outfit as fast as he could, then he and Phantom walked to where she wanted him to be, the right stage wing. Phantom adjusted his tie and stated, "Okay, so this is the only number I need you to dance in. I want you to wait here until I give you this signal, then you're going to come out and do the duet piece that we rehearsed. There is no pressure, and I have complete and utter confidence that you will perform it amazingly. Remember, just have fun and go with it." Peter nodded his head at her plan and advice, she give him a quick peck on the cheek, and ran backstage to get to stage left for her entrance. When the lights went down, the rest of the show choir went to their positions behind the sheer screen, while Phantom whispered 'good luck' to them. After they all got into position, the conductor gave his countdown to the group, and then all of singers sang out the bass line while Phantom performed her way on the stage at "My lover's got humor, he's a giggle a funeral. Knows everybody's disapproval. I should of worshipped him sooner." She continued her solo until the chorus when the sheer screen rose to reveal the rest of the choir coming in to dance the routine with her. They all danced together at the second verse and chorus, but when the third verse was about to hit, Phantom gave Peter the signal, which was her embracing her own torso with her right hand while her left held onto her throat. Peter ran to the beat to her and danced in a circle with Phantom without touching her while he sang with her. Peter embraced her from behind, and led her face direction towards him while leaning their foreheads together and closing their eyes as they sang, "There is no sweeter innocent than our gentle sin." They continued to dance together, until the bridge hit when Phantom sang her "Amen" sequence. She pulled herself away and sang out the audience rather than Peter as she did before. When the chorus hit, she held out "Take me to church" as the rest of the choir sang along and Peter pulled her in to dance with him. She jumped into Peter's arms, while he supported her and twirled into a circle. Peter and Phantom's eyes never left each other as they danced together in perfect unison. Peter put her down, spun her in, spun her out, and then when he pulled in, he dipped her at the end of the piece with both of them gazing into each other's eyes. Tony was the first to stand up due to his excitement and feeling of exult of his two protégés dancing together beautifully. Peter lifted Phantom up and they both bowed. Phantom then stepped to the side, gestured to Peter, and the audience clapped louder. Peter bowed and then left the ensemble so that they may have continued without him.

The group did large numbers such as Start Me Up/Livin On A Prayer done by Glee for the girls and It's My Life/Confessions II for the boys while Phantom danced with them. They also did Homeward Bound/Home, Like A Prayer, We Are Young, and finished off with Somebody to Love. The top five singers of the choir program, which Phantom was the only girl, sang together as a high school version of Pentatonix. They sang Wizard of Ahhhs, Love Again, Say Something, and the Evolution of Music. The last two numbers were a accompanied vocal background to a duet between Phantom and a Peter, who Phantom made come back to sing the duet with her. They sang the Disney Love Medley by Voctave. Peter knew it since Phantom made him rehearse with her so that her part was perfect. In all actuality, Phantom made Peter learn it as Andrew's understudy since Peter had a lovely tenor/high baritone voice that she knew could reach a mezzo alto's range (AN: I actually do believe that Tom Holland has a lovely tenor/high baritone voice that can reach a mezzo alto's range). They started at the beginning on opposite sides of the stage, and as they progressed towards each other very slowly. Phantom never took her eyes off of Peter while Peter kept his eyes on her for the entire performance. To Peter, Phantom had a look of fun, happiness, and another emotion, while to Phantom, Peter had a look of young love within his eyes. Phantom usually would normally worry about the young boy's attachment, but as for the moment and the time she had spent with him, she really didn't care. She grew an attachment to the young boy over the past couple of weeks that she remembered she had when she first lived the Avengers. At the end, Phantom and Peter were each other arms and softly embracing and giggling to each other. Phantom pulled away, kissed Peter's cheek, and whispered to him while the audience 'aww'd' and cheered, "Thank you so much for doing this for me. Especially since I know that you don't like singing in public. It means a lot to me." Peter blushed slightly, nodded his head a little, and held her closer than before while he kissed her forehead while replying, "I loved to do it. This helped us bond more than before. Thank you for including me." Phantom let go of him and then after Peter left the stage, the group finished up with singing 'Hamilton in 7 Minutes' by Range.

After they finished everyone stood up, clapped, cheered, and yelled/whistled at the group. Everyone a part of the program for that night came out and everyone did the curtain call and acknowledged the orchestra, directors, the stage crew, and the lighting group. Everyone left the stage, and Phantom went to her dressing room, and changed into a tight black tank top that exposed her midriff, and black tight capris with black sandals. Phantom put all of her outfits that she was allowed to take home into her giant black duffle bag. While she was packing, a knock came on her door. She yelled that it was open and Amanda and Christine, a girl from her dance group and another from her choir, came in with flowers. Amanda had a large bouquet of orchids, pansies, gardenias, forget-me-nots, red roses, and single purple hyacinth. Christine had four flowers that were tied together by a blue ribbon that she recognized from her room that she had for tying up her hair. The flowers were cyclamen, a purple hyacinth, zinnia, and a daffodil. "Hey Phantom, some guys gave us these flowers to give to you because they had to leave and you didn't come out yet," Amanda stated while handing Phantom the flowers that she was given. Phantom thanked both of the girls as they handed her the flowers and when they both left, she read the cards.

[Dear Victoria,

Your performances were fantastic. I'm really sorry about what happened with the Avengers, but I stood up for what I believed was right. I hope one day you can forgive me and that we can be together again.

Forever Yours,

Steve]

Phantom looked at the card and flowers sadly because she knew what the flowers had meant and why he had picked them out for her. The orchids symbolized love as did the red roses that symbolized passion and true love. The pansies were thoughtful recollection meaning that he wanted her to remember their time together. The forget-me-nots were also about remembrance and affection. The gardenias were about secret love that meant that Steve wanted to reconcile their relationship to form a secret one, and finally the lone purple hyacinth symbolized an apology. Phantom brought the flowers up to her nose and smelt them sadly, trying to remember the way Steve always smelt. She bit her bottom lip sadly, placed the flowers on the table and looked at the other "bouquet" of flowers. She read the card first that only stated a lone word with three initials "Sorry. JBB." Phantom already knew that they were from Bucky without even reading the card due to the flowers that he chose. The daffodil symbolized unrequited love, the zinnia symbolized lasting affection, the purple hyacinth symbolized his apology, and the cyclamen symbolized his goodbye. Phantom sighed at Bucky's cowardliness towards his emotions. She hated the way that Bucky sacrificed his feelings to put others, like Steve first, instead of letting her decide between the two men. Phantom put the other bouquet next to the ones that Steve gave her, picked up her bag, grabbed the bouquets, and walked out the "lobby" of the school auditorium.

When she got there she saw many people waiting one her with pens, paper, cameras, and a variety of gifts. Phantom did all of the pictures and autographs that she could as she walked towards where she saw Tony, Pepper, and Peter were. She accepted all the gifts that she could carry, until her friend Chris helped carry the rest of the gifts to her car. When she finally arrived to the group, Tony took the gifts and duffle bag and handed them to Happy who took them to the town car that Tony brought while Chris went with him to put the other gifts in the trunk. Tony swooped her up into a hug, took her off of the ground, and exclaimed, "OH MY GAWD! YOUR PERFORMANCE WAS AMAZING! NOT A DRY EYE IN THE HOUSE! AND I GOT IT ALL ON VIDEO!" Phantom laughed at Tony, yelled at him to put her down, and when he did, she replied, "Well, I'm very pleased that you enjoyed the show. Even though you made inappropriate comments about the other groups, who tried very hard on their music and routines." Pepper walked up to the two having their moment and presented another bouquet of flowers for Phantom. The bouquet possessed white lilies, violets, and pink tulips. Phantom smiled at the flowers because their meaning signified the values of family: purity, devotion, and caring. Phantom smiled at the flowers and replied, "Lilies… my favorite. Thanks Tony, Pepper." Both of the adults smiled at the girl and embraced her into a family hug.

When they let go Peter walked up to the trio. Peter was silent until he presented her a purple lilac. Phantom blushed at the flower because she saw that Peter was presenting it with his right hand. Phantom saw from the corner of her eye, she saw that Tony was smiling eagerly as if he wanted something to happen. Phantom felt herself have a mental sweat drop. She thought of the message of flower, thought about her current life situation, and accepted the lilac with her right hand meaning as an acceptance of his "confession." Phantom smiled, and replied, "Thank you so much Peter. I love it." Peter blushed at her smile and felt achievement by knowing that accepted the flower, even though he didn't know what it meant. Phantom turned to Pepper and Tony and asked, "Hey, do you guys want to go eat with Peter and me? We're going to New Park if you guys wanna come." Pepper and Tony looked at each other with smiles and nodded at Phantom, who returned their smiles. Pepper and Peter walked forward a little bit, while Phantom grabbed Tony, pulled him in close, and whispered, "You bought the purple lilac for him, didn't you? WHY?!" Tony gave her a smirk and replied, "I ship you two together." All of the color left Phantom's face for a moment, and then she burst out laughing. "YOU DID NOT JUST SAY SHIP?! OH I AM WEAK!" Phantom yelled while laughing at Tony's answer. Tony shrugged his shoulders and replied, "I do ship you two together. He's closer to your age, he's a good kid, and he'll do whatever it takes to make you happy. Out of all of the men I saw you with, Peter is the best of the lot in my opinion, so I approve of him. Not some old men who are bad boys. I know that the flower means first love and he doesn't, but he asked me what flower was appropriate to give you. The flower lady asked him a bunch of questions about how he feels towards you and that was the flower she had picked out for him and I paid for it. She gave me a card that told us what it meant, but I didn't give it to Peter, so it's my way of pushing you two together." Phantom felt the mental sweat drops appear and then she replied, "Who I do or don't end up with shouldn't be any of your concern. Besides, the 'two old men' won't see me again in a long. Now let's go get some pizza." Tony put his arm around her shoulders and led her over to Pepper and Peter who were waiting for them by the town car. Tony opened the door for Pepper, while Peter opened the door for Phantom.

When everyone went to eat, Phantom and Peter shared a cheese pizza, while Tony and Pepper ordered the supreme. Tony pried into the teens lives about how things were going, how training was going, what relationships that they've developed, and how they were going to spend summer vacation. After they ate, they all went outside, and Peter thought that it was a little chilly, so he gave Phantom his jacket, which Tony and Pepper nodded their heads in approval at Peter's actions. Phantom thanked Peter, Pepper stole Phantom away to talk about girl issues while Tony put his arm around Peter's shoulders and commanded, "Walk with me, Peter." Peter's face paled and he nodded his head as Tony talked to him. "I just want to let you know that I greatly appreciate how much you've brought Phantom back into the light from her… mercenary days. I saw that the light was gone from her eyes when I saw her again a couple of weeks ago, but now all that light has returned to her eyes and I couldn't be more grateful than I am now. If there is anything you need, name it." Phantom overheard the men so she yelled, "Give him an allowance or a payment for what he does. So he's got money for Christmas, new clothes and tech, and he can save up for college." Pepper then pulled Phantom away even more so that the boys could talk. Tony turned to Peter and asked, "Do you wanna get paid kid?" Peter nodded his head and whispered, "I wanna get Phantom a gift for Christmas as well." Tony glanced over to Phantom, who was gushing with Pepper over the outfit she wore earlier in the evening, and saw Peter's blushed expression. He smiled, nodded, and replied, "I'll give you $100 a head for every criminal you stop. Phantom will keep track and notify me weekly and I will pay you every Friday at midnight. How's that sound?" Peter nodded his head and replied, "Thank you so much, Mr. Stark." Tony smiled at the kid, slipped Peter a hundred, and whispered, "Go get her a memento for tonight." Peter's eyes lit up and nodded at Tony's request.

Peter and Pepper took Phantom and Peter home, but Tony made Happy stop at a place called "Flushing Antiques," who were closing when the five arrived until Tony brided the shop owners to stay open for another hour while they browsed. Phantom and Pepper looked at some of the vintage clothing that the store had to offer while Tony looked at the old technology that the store had to offer and Peter looked at the jewelry to give to Phantom as a gift. He stopped when he saw a pair of light blue gem studs in a white gold encasing. The sales clerk lady came to Peter and asked, "Oh, you like those earrings? They are rare moonstones sold to us by an older charming man with piercing blue eyes. He tell me to see it to a boy who would buy it for a girl with piercing eyes that needs to be soften out. He demand that we sell it for no more than $100, and he gave pair to us along with over $1000. Judging by who you are with, I see who you are buying this for. Are you interested?" Peter glanced over when the woman gestured over to Phantom who was looking at record players with Tony, and when Peter gazed at her, he could have sworn he saw an angelic light surround her in that moment. That was when he knew what he had to do. He turned the sales clerk and nodded while stating, "I'll take them. Please put them in a pretty earring case. Please." The woman nodded at him, took out the earrings, an old trinket box, while stating, "Actually, earrings were given with box that was to go with earrings. Please give girl both. Also good luck on your endeavors." Peter blushed as the woman slipped him the box, because he knew what she was insinuating. Peter gave her his $100 bill and quickly put the box within his pocket while Phantom and Tony walked up with a giant vintage record player. They had a large vintage record player with a large speaker attached. Tony paid for it as a momento for the night and when he gazed at Peter, they both nodded their heads as acknowledgement of Peter giving Phantom her gift. Tony and Pepper took Phantom and Peter to their apartments, when Tony suggested, "Hey Pep. Why don't we let the kids go to the Queens Botanical Gardens? It is Friday and the night is still young." Pepper saw the look in Tony's eyes and automatically knew what the man was trying to do. Pepper agreed and the adults took Phantom and Pepper to the gardens to walk through while the lights were up lighting up the flowers.

They arrived to the gardens and Tony paid for all of them to go in, but Pepper, Tony, and Happy ditched the two teens to go on their own adventure while the teens walked together. Phantom immediately noticed that the adults had ditched the two teens and knew that it was Tony's attempt to try to get the two teens together. Phantom smiled through her mask as she and Peter walked through the golden lit gardens. Everything was a golden hue due to the sun setting on the horizon. Phantom ran ahead of Peter because she saw Spanish Bluebells, but noticed that Peter was just walking. She quickly turned her head around and while the wind blew, several cherry blossoms with the wind and gave made Peter see Phantom in a different light. The golden light reflected off of her form making her look like a celestial being. Her eyes reflected the golden light which gave one of eyes the color of golden rubies, and the other turquoise with golden specks. Her usual espresso looked to be sparkling amber. When Phantom gazed at Peter, she saw his brown eyes look amber and his hair color was sparkling amber. His eyes were dilated and he looked as if he was astonished by something. Phantom ran up to Peter, grabbed his hand, and had him follow her as they held hands. Every once in a while, she would look back at him, and it made Peter finally understand the Instagram post of couples pictures where the girl was leading the boy. Phantom led Peter to the gazebo that overlooked the lake. Phantom leaned on the railway to over look the scenery as the sky turned from gold to purple and navy. Very little star began to shine through the city lights. Phantom gazed up to the stars, reminiscent, and stated, "You know, nighttime skies out in the country or in an extremely vacant area are way better than city skies." Peter walked over leaned against the railing as well and responded, "We should go to go see it." Phantom turned to him, smiled, and nodded her head as her agreement. After a moment of them staring at the sky, Peter cleared his throat, which made Phantom turn towards him and asked, "What's up?" Peter calmed himself down, pulled out the trinket box, and stated while presenting it to her, "To commemorate how well tonight went and to thank you for teaching me how to be an Avenger, I got you these pair of earrings. I saw them, and I thought that they sang you." Phantom was stunned by Peter presenting her with a gift, but she accepted it hesitantly. She examined the box and saw that it was a vintage jewelry box probably from the seventeenth century made in Italy. She cautiously opened to box to reveal a pair of moonstone stud earrings. The glistened within the moonlight and it gave the bluish tint a glow of white.

Phantom felt herself speechless, until she gazed up to meet Peter's scared eyes. She smiled, put him in her arms, and stated, "Thank you, Peter. I love them. You really didn't have to do this though… Thank you." Peter smiled and returned her affections by holding her close by putting his hand on her head and the other on her waist pulling her in as close as he could. Phantom had her arms around his neck and when she felt that he was pulling her in close, she held on even tighter than before while for the first time in long time, she let the guards of her mind down. When Peter felt her tighten up, a vision came into his mind. He found himself in front of the fireplace in Phantom's room in the Tower. He felt a pair of arms around his form holding on to give him some body heat from his back. He felt the situation and felt that he was in someone's lap and the arms were very muscular, but comforting at the same time. Peter felt someone put their head on his right shoulder, so he looked to see who it was. It was Steve Rogers with the most content smile on his face. Peter felt his face smile on its own, as he leaned his head on Steve's while the watched the fire. Peter felt Steve turn his head to the right to look out the window, so Peter's body followed suit to see there was a blizzard outside. Peter's body shook from the cold of the look of the blizzard and Steve pulled him in closer to provide more body heat to the body. Peter heard and felt himself humming a tune that seemed familiar. Steve turned to him and asked, "What are you singing, Victoria?" Peter was very confused by that name. He has heard both Tony and Steve use that name, but he never really knew who that was. Peter heard Phantom's voice reply, "An old song from a movie my mother and I would often watch. It's called, 'Once Upon A December Reprise.'" Steve went back to snuggling his head on Peter's shoulder, pulled him in as close as he can, and requested, "Sing it for me." Peter's body hummed the beginning of the tune and Phantom's voice sang out the lyrics,

[On the wind,

Cross the sea

Hear this song and remember

Soon you'll be, home with me

Once Upon a December]

Steve nuzzled his head in the crook of Peter's neck and shoulder, which made him purr with delight. After that moment, Peter's body sighed in content and when he relax, he was sent into another scene. He found himself feeling small but he also felt that the body was incredibly cold. He looked around to see himself outside in the middle of a large yard with two trees and hills while it was snowing outside. Peter's arms reached out into parallel each other and when Peter felt a small surge of energy, the snow that was falling stopped within thin air. The surge of energy then moved into a spiral then into a sphere to form a ball of snow then a clear ball of ice. The hands cuffed to catch the ball of clear ice that fell into the hands. The body turned around and ran to a two-story house. The body went inside to see a blonde woman stand before a kitchen stove stirring two pots. The woman had long straight light strawberry blonde hair that went down to the back of her knees and fair colored skin. She looked to be five-foot seven and had the same body built of Phantom. The body ran forward while yelling, "Mommy, Mommy. Look what I did! I turned the falling snow into a ball of ice!" The woman turned around and when Peter saw her face, he felt surprised. She had the same face structure of Phantom with the same azure eyes that Phantom had. As the woman turned, she went from humor to surprise. She immediately waved her hands up and down as if she had something hot on them while she yelled, "ENRIQUE, ENRIQUE! COME IN HERE NOW, PLEASE!" The sounds of running came from another room to the kitchen. A man with sea-green eyes came running in startled. Peter knew that he was clearly Latin due to his tan skin and black hair. He had a mole on his right cheek. He had a semi-muscular build. "What is it, mi Corazon?"

The woman turned down the heat on the pots, grabbed Peter's body gently bringing it forward, and proclaimed, "Mija, would you please tell tu papa what you did?" She pushed the iceball forward and stated, "I made this iceball out of the snow outside. See?" The man's face went from startled, shook, and then to enthusiastic. "Oh my… VICTORIA, THIS IS FANTASTIC!" He picked up the little girl and spun her around while proclaiming, "This is fantastic. I didn't get my abilities until I hit puberty, but you managed to access yours at the age of four. We'll start your training immediately with Zacharias and…" Then Peter felt his nose itch, and when he sneezed, it stopped the man's speech. The woman came up to the man and Peter while proclaiming, "While this is a momentous occasion, Victoria needs get warmed up from being in the frigid cold." The woman took Peter's body and held her while proclaiming, "Victoria, you need to go change into your pajamas, then go warm up by the fire. I'm going to finish making the hot cocoa and preparing the chicken and noodles then I'll come sit down with you." Peter felt himself nodding his head, then woman helped him out of his coat and boots, and then Peter walked out while Enrique took the ball of ice while melting it down and putting it into a glass cup with lid. "Carol, mi amor, this is fantastic. Now both of our kids will have access to my abilities. Hell, Victoria will surpass both Zacharias and me by her teen years. She truly is a prodigy and she's our little prodigy." Peter felt pride swell up in his chest as he skipped up the stairs and changed into a pajama set of red Mickey Mouse pants and a long black Mickey Mouse shirt with a pair of black fuzzy socks. Peter's body ran down the stairs and sat down on the floor in front of the fireplace. The blonde woman named Carol came back with four mugs of hot cocoa. A boy came down the stairs, took the mug from the blonde woman, and stated while going back up the stairs, "Thanks, Mom." Enrique and Carol sat on both sides of Peter and Carol handed Peter a mug of hot cocoa. Peter took a sip of the drink and he felt the warmth of the liquid stream down his esophagus as it warmed up his body from the inside out. Enrique and Carol embraced each other while embracing Peter. All three of them held each other as they watched the fire while Carol sang the same piece that Peter heard previously while Peter heard his body sing the same piece with her but higher. When they finished, all three of them embraced each other tighter than before and Peter felt safe, secured, and completely relax and tranquil.

Peter came back to his reality to see Phantom looking at him with a smile yet confusion within her eyes. Peter felt the same confusion, so he began to sputter out, "Wha… What just… What just happened?" Phantom put her hand up to her head and answered, "In all honesty, I don't know. One minute, I was hugging you, the next… I was in your memories of you and Aunt May watching "Just Friends," while you both were talking about school. You were extremely comfortable and relaxed, while being in complete bliss. What happened to you?" Peter remembered the first memory that he saw and felt is face grow extremely warm. He scratched the back of his head due to his flustered expression. "Umm… I saw a man and woman getting excited about forming a ball of ice from snow. Then we cuddled by the fireplace. I think the names were Carol and… Enrique? I think that was his name." Peter saw that Phantom's face went from shock, scared, and then very sad while she responded, "That was the first time I was able to use my abilities. It's one of my favorite memories where I think I felt comfortable, safe, and warm." Peter saw her sad expression and went to comfort her, but she tried to push off her sad expression and make Peter see that she was okay, "But I'm okay, Peter. I promise."

Peter smiled, gestured at her to the walkway, and she and him walked together towards the exit. "Hey, Phantom. Not that you're not teaching bad, but am I allowed to ask questions?" Phantom felt herself get embarrassed and explained quickly, "Oh my gosh. Absolutely you can ask questions. Oh my gosh, I should have told you that day one. Go ahead: ask anything. There is no such thing as a bad or too personal question." Peter thought about all the questions so he asked, "Umm… I guess my first question is I remember when we were in Germany that you could fly, so I guess my question is: HOW DO YOU DO THAT?" Phantom laughed at his question and when she composed herself, she replied, "My original abilities were hydrokinetic, meaning that I could manipulate water and liquid-based elements. I was born with the X-Gene in my genome. I inherited it from my father, who also had a hydrokinetic-based mutation. Although my mutation was solely hydrokinetic, I advanced the abilities through chemical experimentation, training, and through the extreme of torture. So now, my abilities advanced to hydrokinetic, geokinetic, aerokinetic, pyrokinetic, and mentokinetic. Meaning that I was manipulate fire, liquid, gas, solid, and the mind. When it comes to the mind, it's a lot harder to manipulate. It's not exactly what you think, like I can control someone's thoughts and make them my own personal thrall. It is more like I can hear one's thoughts if we're touching and our minds can connect through liquid transference. Blood is way more thorough and have a lasting effect unlike other liquids. It has to be open into the body, so sweat doesn't work. I can also transfer memories and thoughts through contact, which is why I think you saw my memories, but why I saw yours, I don't know. That's a mystery to me right now, but I'll find out why. So for the elemental aspect, pretty much I can focus on molecule structure, so when it comes to pyro, I pretty much just excel the pace of friction between molecules to harness fire. Everything else is just, it's everywhere so I don't have to work as hard to concentrate. As for the side effects… it's hard to explain. As for my fighting prowess, it was just working as a mercenary and training with other mercenaries and the Avengers was how I learned to fight as well as I can. That's pretty much all I can tell you. What else do you got?"

Peter thought about what she just replied. "So, are you going to train me to react the same way you do to situations?" Phantom smiled at his question and instantly replied, "No. The way I was trained was way too extreme for you. I'm doing a softer approach to how I was trained. I hope you will react to certain situations the same way I would, like checking your surroundings, analyzing scenarios, and fight to a similar extent like I do, just not as extreme as I would such as taking a life. I will train you as hard as I need to, to make you the crime fighter as I can. It's going to hurt and it's going to take a lot of work, but if anyone can do it, I do believe you'll achieve it and even excel my expectations. Face it, Tiger. With both me and Stark working with you, you just hit the jackpot." Peter felt pride swell when he gave him that response. He knew that she truly felt like he was going to do great things and that she wanted to help him get to that moment as quickly as she could.

They walked for a little bit until he asked, "Well thank you for your vote of confidence. I guess my next question is, umm… what is your relationships with the other Avengers?" Phantom tripped over her feet for a quick second when he asked her that unsuspecting question. She had to stop for a moment, she deeply thought about the question, and countered, "That depends, are we talking about the current Avengers such as Stark, Rhodes, Vision, Thor, and Banner, or all of the old team, such as Rogers, Romanoff, Barton, Wilson, and Maximoff?" Peter felt puzzled by the way she countered. She sounded angry, threatened, and like she really didn't want to answer the question. Peter felt that since she was feeling that way, he should back off, so he tried by relinquishing, "You know what, just forget I asked anything." Phantom felt that Peter should know what all she could tell him, so she evoked the question, "No Peter, it's fine. My relationship with the Avengers is… *exhale* worse than rocky."

Phantom walked ahead of Peter, wrapped her arms around herself, and continued, "I guess, umm… I should start from the top. Barton, Romanoff, and I met years ago while I was working within an assassination guild, or technically we were a mercenary guild. God, I still call myself a mercenary even though I was a… I am a killer. Anyway, I met them while I was with my fellow guild mates on an assignment to take out an entire family that was protected by S.H.I.E.L.D.. Romanoff and Barton fought me off, but I managed to slip out of our fight, and I finished the job. We saw each other as time went on. We were just professionals on the opposite side of the battlefield. No real quarrel with each other. Then the Avengers were formed. We put our differences aside. After I started to live with Stark, we got closer, we trained together, we joked around, we made connections. After… the Africa Incident, I was recruited to be part of the Wakanda Spy Squad. Barton supposedly retired, but Romanoff and I met on the opposite sides of the battlefield. I was… angry, upset, and still hurt about being replaced, especially since it was a couple of months after I 'died.' So I showed her no mercy and took my anger out on her and took a chunk of her from her side as my warning that I wasn't her teammate anymore. Then the fight between Stark and Rogers happened, originally, Romanoff saw the ideas of Tony's side and chose to help him, but went double agent and turned her back. Now, I guess, even though it wasn't my fight, still isn't my fight, I still hold my grudges against her. Not just over the whole replacing concept, but also the betraying of 'family.' I really don't well with that kind of thing. It's the same with Barton. He could have just stayed with his family and been a good father, but he chose to leave his family to join a fight he had no connection with, especially since he was retired. So I still hold my grudge about that."

She took a moment to think about whom she wanted to talk about next, so she decided to keep going. "The four people I think I don't have a problem with are Rhodes, Wilson, Banner, and Thor. Rhodes was like a good uncle to me. He kept himself distant, but still wanted to keep tabs about my life. When I died, he mourned. Still kept to the team, but they needed some type of Iron suit, so they had War Machine. Other than that, I don't have any beef against him. Wilson, I don't know him all that well. Any time that he hung out with the other Avengers, he was very nice and fun, we joked before I died. When I recovered, I saw that he was on the team, but it was nothing personal, just following orders and his friend, so no muss no fuss. Thor hasn't been around for two years. After Ultron, he just… disappeared. Probably went back to Asgard. So… I have no reason to be angry at Thor. Bruce. I love Bruce. He was good friend to my dad a long time ago. He treated me as his own kid. He didn't mean to hurt me. I blame Maximoff for that. I know he disappeared due to the intense guilt he must have felt. When I see him again, I hope that I can hug him and tell him not to feel guilty." Phantom kept walking until her anger swelled and she stopped. She looked up to the sky, calmed herself down, and continued, "Maximoff and I have issues that we need to solve. I'm not the sit down and discuss type though. I like to duke things out and talk while we fight. It's harder to lie when you're fighting on the spot. I hold a grudge against her due to what she did to Bruce and then when she took my spot on the Avengers. I'm not a fan of her, and if she tries to use her powers on me again, no one will be there to protect her from me. Vision, well he's an android that was created after I died. He has no quarrel with me and he's got JARVIS within his programming, so that gives him plus for me, but he likes Maximoff and will protect her against me, so that's a con. I guess, when it comes to him, we'll just have to see what side he's on and that's how we'll interact with each other."

Phantom stopped talking and continued to walk back towards the car. Phantom continued to walk and decided to continue, "Stark… Tony and me have a strain relationship for the moment. He is still technically my father, but as for the moment… well he has disappointed me. Of course, that would happen eventually, but for it to happen the way it did, it just wasn't the greatest way of it happening. I understand him needing his grief time and making all those damn memorial programs and statues, but damn… it was way too much. The scholarships, the statue, the press tour, the memorial, and yet it was all for nothing because A.) I didn't die, B.) there was no body to identify my death, and C.) the man never sighed a death certificate verifying that I was really dead. He just drew it out. That upset me, but protecting Maximoff and providing her with accommodations like his own child, MY OWN KILLER, that was my last straw. He is trying to rekindle our relationship, but I told him that it would take some time to heal. I respect Tony as my father, but as for me choosing to act and address him as such since in incidents, I'm going to start from the beginning, by addressing him as Stark, then Tony, and if we make it to where we were in the past, Dad." Peter listen to her explanation and he felt bad for her. He knew that she was still hurting from what all happened after she was hurt in Africa. She felt that no one close to her truly missed her besides Tony, but she felt betrayal by having whom she believed was the cause of her disappearance live with the other Avengers without any sign of punishment or repercussions for her previous actions.

Peter knew that it wasn't right to pry more than he had in Phantom's statuses with the Avengers, but he had to get these monkey of a question off of his chest. "And what about the Winter Soldier and Captain Rogers?" Phantom stopped walking the instant that he asked that. She kept a safe distance from the car, so that neither Pepper nor Tony could hear her. Peter walked to her side and saw her old stoic expression with focused/hurt within her eyes. "Barnes was once a good man. The bloodied hands of HYDRA have tainted him. His mind is no longer secure and he needs some serious therapy and medical attention. While he was the Winter Soldier, he convinced my only brother to murder my family. While he was Bucky, we connected mentally, but that's all. I want to get him the help he needs, while he needs to be rehabilitated and feel the remorse of killing all those poor souls against HYDRA."

Peter came close to her and asked quietly, "And Captain America?" Phantom looked up to the sky and continued, "Rogers… Steve and I have a very complicated relationship. We were… we were close. Spiritually and intimately before I disappeared. We never declared ourselves to be in a relationship, but everybody knew. It pissed Stark off so much, but Steve made me happy. There was something about his old school ways, his dazzling azure eyes, and the way he would always tell me what was on his mind. Whenever I would ask him something, he would answer me wholeheartedly. After our time together, I thought that we would end up together. You know, possibly… it doesn't matter anymore. We fought during the fall of S.H.I.E.L.D. and afterwards. I forgave him, we were a happy couple for a while afterwards, but after the incident… I considered it to be our breakup. He moved on with Maximoff being on the team and with Sharon Carter as a partner. After that, I saw no need to rekindle our relationship so I continued to do my job. I then saw him to sign the Accords, but… you saw how that turned out. Now, Steve is just my ex who's a current criminal. No more nor less. He's my past." Phantom pivoted to Peter, gently touched his cheek, and stated with a warm smile on her face, "While you are my future."

Favorite Victoria Secret Set: pin/362469469997499278/

Phantom's Apartment: pin/847380486110125009/

Phantom's First Day School Outfit: pin/676806650220464662/

Phantom's Backpack: pin/44824958772490841/

Phantom's Party Dress: .

Phantom's Hair: pin/596515913117973609/

Phantom's Eye Makeup: pin/116038127878967914/

Phantom's Ballroom Gown: pin/447967494172469457/

Phantom's Dance Outfit: pin/182747697359497397/

Show Choir Outfit concept: pin/417638565416329736/

Earrings: pin/225883737533917619/

Trinket Box: pin/510032726527081933/


	12. SMHC

"COME ON, TIGER! YOU'RE FALLING BEHIND AGAIN!" A voice bellowed out to be heard over the roaring of the railroad tracks. Phantom turned around to see Spiderman running on the moving subway towards her. Instead of riding the subway like the normal citizens of New York do, Phantom and Peter had been doing parkour to get to school everyday. She claimed that it helps to keep them in shape as well as show the city that there were heroes around, even when Iron Man is on vacation. Phantom turned around and walked to the edge of the subway that was heading to their destination. When Peter finally caught up to her, he was panting like a dog. "Did we really have to go all the way to Middle Village and then back here BEFORE school?" Spiderman asked the posing mercenary. She held her position and proclaimed, "Yes. You and I needed to grab that chocolate babka for Mrs. Nelson because we didn't do it yesterday, remember? Now stand up straight, remember rule number 7?" Spiderman heeded her request and replied, "A hero must always have an energetic, positive attitude to ensure citizens that we have the confidence to keep them safe." Phantom smiled at him and stated, "Good." Peter pulled out his phone to do his daily text to Happy about the next mission. When Phantom glance over Spiderman's shoulder, she sighed at him and stated, "Spidey. You know I'll let you know when you're next mission is. You don't have to blow up Happy's phone. He and I are BOTH supervising you. Just have patience, when the time is right, I'll let you know." Spiderman continued to send the message to Happy, and after he heard her say that he replied, "Easy for you to say. You get to leave for missions all the time." Phantom put her hand on his shoulder and stated softly, "And you know those missions aren't of any importance to you. I leave when I have to, and come back as fast as I can." Peter just sighed at her comment. Whenever he tried to press her about her "missions" she would never be upfront about them. She would just push them off, joke about them, or tell him that they were none of his concern.

When the subway stopped infront of the school, Phantom went into the subway station, and changed into her school outfit for the day as did Peter. He did his hair with his standard gel. He put on his plaid button up long sleeve shirt, with his long blue sweater and jeans. Phantom changed into tight long sleeve black knit shirt with a short flared gray skirt, black sheer tights, and black ankle high 2-inch heels. She put on a dark blue scarf around her neck to accessorize and her standard light blue earrings that Peter had given her a couple of months before hand. She brushed her hair to make it into its standard straight with a little fluff to it. She did her makeup to give herself a natural accented look, and when she was satisfied, she went outside to see Peter leaning against the railing staring into his cellphone at his old messages to Happy. She shook her head, went over to him, gently pushed to the phone away, and asked, "You ready to go?" Peter nodded, she took his hand, and led them to the school.

On the way in, Phantom went over to her friend, Rand Roberson, who had delivered the chocolate babka to her as a favor that he could exchange for something she could for him, other than something involving herowork. Rand was an African American, laidback guy who was very kind to Peter, much to the approval of Phantom and dismay of Flash. He was a star on the football team and a good friend of Flash and Phantom. "Hey Randy. Thank you so much for doing this for me. If there is anything I can do to return the favor, please let me know," Phantom stated to the young football player while taking the babka and gently touching his arm in a flirtatious type of way. Rand swallowed hard at her flirtation and only nodded as his response. She smiled at him, pivoted, and walked towards Peter while waving at Rand without turning around. Peter just watched at the interaction and completely understood where that poor man was coming from. Phantom had that type of effect on all of the men of the school. She was the hottest and most popular in the school while only being within it for a couple of months. Phantom caught up to Peter and the two walked on the driveway in front of the school. Glory Grant waved Phantom down as soon as she saw her and Phantom went forward to go talk to the girl before classes started. While Phantom sped walked ahead to Glory, Peter just kept his pace, until Flash Thompson sped ahead, almost hitting Peter while yelling, "Wassup Penis Parker? Hello Miss Phantom." Phantom just turned her head, flipped off Flash, and yelled, "Fuck off, Flash!" Everyone laughed at Phantom's reply to Flash's flirtation. Everyone knew that Phantom was disgusted by Flash and whenever he flirted with her, she was just tell him off.

Phantom winked at Peter and continued on her way with Glory into the school with Sha Shan Nguyen, Sally Avril, and various others of the popular girls. Peter smiled at Phantom's little gesture. When it came to school bullies and such, Phantom was always there to defend him in any way, shape, or form, while proclaiming it to be only for her benefit. Peter always knew better though. Phantom always watched out for him in everything that he ever did. When it came to herowork, homework, schoolwork, and various situations. She was his ride or die kind of friend, and it was great to know that someone was going to be in his corner whenever he needed it. When Peter resaw her, Phantom was with the popular girls: Liz Allen, Betty Brant, Sha Shan Nguyen, Sally Avril, and Glory Grant. Peter's world went completely silent as he saw the two girls his own age that he cared about conversing with each other. He watched in silence and awe at the two teens. Phantom noticed that Liz and Peter made an eye connection and she hid a sad smile underneath her mask as they girls continued to walk on. The next time Peter and Ned saw the girls, they were helping to set up the banner for Homecoming. The boys stared as love-stricken puppies at the girls setting up. "Did Liz get a new top? I know Phantom got one cause I went with her to go shopping when she bought it." Ned answered him while attempting to look up Phantom's skirt from a distance, "No you've seen that top before, but never with that skirt." Peter told Ned that they should stop staring before it made them look creepy. The boys focus was broken when Michelle told them that it was too late and that they were losers. When Ned asked why she sat with them, Michelle replied, "Cause I don't have any friends." From a distance, Phantom, who was listening in with her super hearing to the boys, snorted at Michelle's reply and giggling to herself a little. "What's so funny, Phantom," Liz asked the giggling teen curiously. Phantom waved off her question while replying, "Nothing. Just remembered something funny."

Peter ran out his day by telling Mr. Harrington that he wasn't going with the decathlon team in Washington. When Flash tried to say he had a date with Phantom, Abe buzzed his button to tell everyone that it was false, which made Peter laugh. Peter checked the time and saw that he had another hour and a haft until he had to go pick up Phantom then go to herowork. He fidget for the rest of the time until his final bell rang, causing him to dash towards the auditorium, where he knew Phantom would be practicing at. Phantom got recruited by the school to perform at the homecoming dance as part of the entertainment, which made Tony pay for the preparations instead of the school. When he got there, he saw that Phantom and the band that the school assembled to play for her were in the middle of one of set pieces. Phantom was singing "Jar of Hearts," performing the actions of a sad broken-hearted girl, and was reaching the third verse:

[It took so long just to feel alright

Remember how to put back the light in my eyes

I wish I had miss the first time that we kissed

Cause you broke all your promises

And now you're back

You don't get to get me back]

Phantom's emotions completely shown through as she sang that third verse. It was clear to Peter that she was singing about Captain Rogers. Ever since Peter found out their relationship, it made more sense about how she acted towards him and the memories she shared about that particular hero. As Phantom continued to sing through the piece, the chorus, she felt was about herself. She flirted and teased all types of men throughout her life. Steve, Pietro, Bucky, Sunny, Peter, and various of others to get something that she wanted. When it came to Sunny, he was her long time best friend. She knew that he would do anything for her, and she would return the favor if he ever asked, but he never did. Peter was her other best friend in the world. He was a good kid that she adored do to his positive and optimistic attitude towards life. When it came to others in her life, everyone was exposed to pain and sorrow, which dealt their tolls on the person causing them to no longer see the bright and good of the world the same way. Peter has seen his share, which he told Phantom whenever they had their bonding moments, but they didn't effect them the way that they would have her, and that's why she loved having him around. It made her feel like he could bring her back into the light and keep her there with all of his good deeds.

After she finished, Peter clapped calmly to her performance and it made her smile. She bowed to him, turned, and addressed the band, "Okay guys, that was great. Maybe let's go a little less lamenting on the third verse. It was just a tad too slow for me." All of the band members nodded at her request, then she turned to Peter, who was trying to point out the time to her on his wristwatch to signal that they were going to be late for hero training. Phantom, hating to be rushed, addressed the issue, "I know Peter. We've got one more set to do before I can leave though. So relax and dance along, cause it's a fun piece." Peter tried to get her not to sing, but Phantom nodded at the band and they started to play. Phantom put on her wireless mic, walked out, and began to dance and sing along to the band:

[I know you

I walked with you once upon a dream

I know you

The gleam in your eyes is so familiar a gleam

I know it's true

That visions are seldom all they seem

But if I know you

I know what you'll do

You'll love me at once

The way you did once

Upon a dream

Once upon a time

I dreamed we'd be together

In love forever

Once upon a night

I was wishing for a never—

A never ending

Once upon a time

Once upon a night

Once upon a wish

Once upon a dream]

Phantom ran up to Peter and went into a third arabesque position as did Peter. Peter knew that he shouldn't, but he decided to indulge her and her antics, as he always did. She would always do little things that made no sense to him, but always meant for them to have fun and relax. Peter felt that he needed to allow her the fun moments because she didn't receive as many as he did growing up, but he wanted to experience the happiness that he believed that she deserved. The two then proceeded to dance together as Phantom continued to sing:

[I know you

I danced with you once upon a night

There we were

Wishing this dance would last forever all time

I hope it's true

This vision is more than what it seems

'Cause if dreams come true

I know what we'll do

We'll dance once again

The way we did then

Upon a dream

Once upon a time

I dreamed we'd be together

In love forever

Once upon a night

I was wishing for a never—

A never ending

Once upon a time

Once upon a night

Once upon a wish

Once upon a dream

Once upon a night

I was wishing for a never—

A never ending

Once upon a time

Once upon a night

Once upon a wish

Once upon a love

Once upon a time

Once upon a night

Once upon a wish

Once upon a dream

Once upon a dream

Once upon a dream

Once upon a dream]

The piece ended with Phantom jumping on the stage, in a cute Japanese idol pose. Everyone in the band nodded at each other while smiling at their progress and how well the piece had turned out. Phantom smiled at the group and stated, "Great job you guys! THIS DANCE IS GOING TO BE AWESOME! Now, I think Christine is coming in next with Andrew, hopefully. Have a great rehearsal, see you guys tomorrow." Phantom grabbed her bag, put it on, jumped off of the stage, giving every a look up her skirt, landed on the ground, grabbed Peters hand, and led them over to Delmar's Deli to get their afternoon snacks.

As soon as they walked in, Peter grabbed two bags of gummy worms while Phantom grabbed two Chocolate Chip Cliff Bars. Phantom would always grab Cliff bars because they were her favorite and they blended well with her homemade energy bars. Peter tried one of her energy bars once while she was making a fresh batch for the month. It was a concoction of seaweed, ground cacao beans, chia seeds, coconut water, flaxseed oil, and turmeric. She would mix it all together and then freeze it. It was one of the weirdest taste that Peter ever had and it made him gag. Phantom would eat those everyday to gather energy for hero work, along with drinking a strange food called spirulina in her breakfast cups of water. When he tried that, it made him gag even more than the energy bars did. He always asked her why she would eat and drink those disgusting things, and she explained that they were good for her and gave her enough energy to last a full day.

After Phantom grabbed the Cliff bars, she went up to the counter with Peter and they got their after school meals. Peter got his usual number five with it being smooshed down while Phantom got her egg sandwich, which they named after her since that was what she always got when she came there. Mr. Delmar asked how Aunt May was, and Phantom saw how uncomfortable that made Peter since he couldn't look the man in the eye while answering that. Peter was well aware how men saw his Aunt May, but it always made him uncomfortable because of his Uncle Ben. Mr. Delmar told his coworker about how Peter's Aunt was very beautiful in Spanish, which made Peter retaliate to Mr. Delmar, "Como esta tu hija, eh?" Both Phantom and the coworker wooed at Peter retaliation, but Mr. Delmar wasn't please, so he announced, "Ten dollars." When Peter tried to argue about it being five, Mr. Delmar told him ten for the comment, until Phantom walked up, pulled out her wallet, and stated, "I'm paying Sr. Delmar. How much for both?" Mr. Delmar smiled at Phantom's loyalty to Peter, so he replied, "Ten dollars for both, along with the snacks and drinks." Phantom smiled and paid the man, much to Peter's protest. He always hated whenever Phantom paid for anything. He made money doing his herowork, but Phantom always told him to save it for college and that she makes a thousand times more than he does on her jobs.

Peter went up to pet Mr. Delmar's cat, Murphy, who wasn't very keen on Phantom. The first time she tried to pet him, the cat hissed, bit, and clawed at her. It made Phantom remember why she was always a dog person and was Cerberus was her true pet. Peter came back to the counter to grab the food, while Mr. Delmar and Phantom were talking about school. When Peter came, Mr. Delmar asked how school was for Peter, and Peter replied, "Awe you know. Boring, I got better things to do." Mr. Delmar told him to stay in school otherwise he would have ended up like him. When Peter commented that it was great, Mr. Delmar told him they had the best sandwiches in Queens, Phantom grabbed her food while stating, "Trust me, Mr. Delmar. I'll keep him in school, even if it's the last thing I have to do." After they grabbed their food, both of the kids took off to an abandon ally next to their apartments and they both transitioned to change their clothes. Phantom was always required by Peter to put up an earth wall whenever they changed, because Peter wanted to be respectful towards Phantom. Phantom changed into her black leotard with black tights and leather ankle-high two-inch heels. She also had a black hooded cape that went to the back of her thighs while the inside of it was red velvet to give herself a look like a servant of Dracula. After she finished, she located her secret trash can, lifted the black trash bags full of newspaper, and put her backpack in while putting the newspaper bags on top to hide her stuff. She put the trash can top on, and then dropped the wall to see Peter only in his boxers putting the suit on over his feet. He looked at her and asked, "How do you always change so fast?!" Phantom laughed at his reaction and replied, "You always ask me that and I tell the same every time. When you work in this type of industry as long as I have, you learn how to change quickly. Now hurry up. We got hero work to do." Peter finished putting on his suit, webbed his bag onto the trashcan, which made Phantom gag at the liquid that came out after he did that. He jumped up and climbed to the roof, while Phantom grabbed her scythe from its hiding spot, and flew up to join the boy.

The two took off to do their hero work. The first crime that they saw was a bicycle thief. Peter told Phantom that he was going to trick the thief into holding his spiderweb, which would cause the man to get off of the bike, and he gave his analysis that the man was working alone with little to no weaponry. Phantom nodded her head in approval of Peter's plan and told him that she was going to watch. As soon as Peter executed it, he picked up the bike and yelled to see if it belonged to anyone within the vicinity. Phantom smiled and shook her head at the boy's antics. Phantom flew down, gave Peter a pen and a note card, he wrote down not to steal it if it didn't belong to said person. After he took off, Phantom assembled the broken chain back together, and flew off to join Peter once again. As Peter and Phantom went through the neighborhood, people recognized them, and they would help anyone in any way that they could. Whenever they had freetime, Phantom would work on hand to hand combat with Peter in strange scenarios, such as when she made Peter create a tightrope for them to fight on. At one point, Phantom had to fix a situation when Peter thought some guy was trying to steal a car, when he wasn't. Phantom had to cut him out and apologize to all of the citizens within the area for Peter. Phantom had to remind Peter to change his webbing after he landed face first after running out of a batch. At the end of the day, Peter called Happy and gave his daily report as did Phantom by calling Tony directly. When Peter asked why he would tell Happy about the churro, Phantom whispered in his ear from behind, "Because you wanna show how you've been rewarded for your good deeds." Phantom jumped at her sudden closeness to him and he blushed a little at her. Peter then went to change his webbing once again, only to have almost fall but using his abilities to hang to fire escape sideways. Phantom did a playful pout and replied, "I really hate how you and Sunny can do that with such ease."

While he hung from the side, Peter noticed that the bank across the street was about to be mugged and he stated, "Finally, something good." Phantom was about to reach out for the boy, but he already took off leaving her to say, "Now Spidey, remember rules number 2 and 3. Spi- SPIDEY! Aww damn. Not again." Phantom chose to stand behind to make sure that if something were to happen, she could just interfere if need be. Peter carefully went into the building not to alarm the thieves, but then he posed casually to give himself a sense of relief for the situation, which made Phantom giggle at the boy's quirkiness. When she saw that Peter was joking and playing with the armed men, she giggled for a second, until she heard/saw the cocking of the gun, so she went into position, ready to aid Peter when needed. When Phantom saw a new anti-gravity weapon used against Peter, only one thought rang through her mind, "I gotta get that weapon." Phantom continued to watch as Peter held his own against the armed men, until she saw the man with a hulk mask fire up his weapon, and she flew down to where she saw the damage was going to be done. She saw Mr. Delmar on the phone, calling the police, and she yelled out, "MR. DELMAR, PLEASE GET OUT AND RUN TO SAFETY!" The weapon fired and Phantom created three giant walls of stone, only to sense that the beam was going to go through, so she steadied her vibranium scythe and intercepted the attack, only to have the blast pop off in smaller quantities on different directions, slicing her left shoulder and right thigh. Phantom screamed in agony and pain when the beams went through her, but she held her ground to the blast, only to have part of hit still hit Delmar's Deli, causing it to go into flames and smoke. Phantom fell on her right knee while supporting herself with her scythe. Peter ran up to her, saw all of her injuries, and tried to help her while stating, "OH MY GOSH PHANTOM! YOU'RE HURT! LET ME GET YOU TO-" Phantom cut him off immediately by stating with strain in her voice from the pain, "Go help Mr. Delmar first. Make sure he's alive and doesn't need medical attention." Peter held his position in silence by her statement until she looked up with her sharp blue and red eyes and ordered, "NOW!" Peter nodded his head and ran into Delmar's Deli. He shouted for Mr. Delmar, recovered him from the rubble along with Murph, and took them out of the smoke and flames. While Peter did that, Phantom rose to her feet, slowly walked to the bank, sliced the back of the calves of the thieves to make sure that they would get away, and took the weapons that she wanted. She put them in the ally next door to recover them when no one was watching and when she would be able to carry them back to her lab. When Peter saw Phantom limping towards them, he ran over to her, placed her right arm over his shoulders, and carried her over to Mr. Delmar so that they both could have been examined at once. While he did that, Phantom dropped the rubble of the three stone walls back into the street, and called her cleaning crew to pick up the mess that was left at the battle scene.

When the medics arrived, Phantom told Peter to report back to the apartment right away, and she wouldn't be far behind. The medical teams bandaged her up as soon as they could and she had a fellow mercenary within the area, Anastasia, come pick her up and take her back to her apartment, since Sun Wukong was on an assignment for the both of them. Anastasia was a young mercenary with extraordinary potential. She was a young mutant with pure white hair that went down to the back of her knees with a fringe that covered her icy blue eyes. She had the ability to manipulate ice and she had a very cold and distant personality. Phantom met her on one of her escapades in Russia. Phantom learned that the woman was named after her grandmother who survived the familicide of the Tsar Family of Russia. When Anastasia arrived, she was in a purple to white, long sleeve, hooded trench coat with white pants and navy with purple accented knee high boots. The coat had white fax fur trimming and a black weapon belt that accented her figure. Anastasia put Phantom into her white sedan that glistened like freshly fallen snow. Anastasia put ice on Phantom's injuries while she drove her home. "How could you get his hurt? This wasn't any normal injury from your usual jobs, and don't try to lie to me." Phantom sighed at her and replied, "I'm working on teaching someone at the moment. He was fighting off the criminals and they had a new weapon that I have never seen before. I tried to send the damage somewhere else, but it still hit the area along with damaging me. I took responsibility for the mess and I'll heal myself up after I get back to my apartment. I thank you personally for picking me up and dropping me off back home. I'll compensate you as soon as I get to my laptop."

Anastasia dropped Phantom off of infront of her apartment building. Phantom used her aerokinesis to shoot herself back to window. Before she went in, she limped herself down to Peter's window, and knocked for permission to get in. She looked in to see Peter with only his shirt and boxers on and Ned with a shocked look on his face. She looked to the ground, saw the Spiderman suit, and put two and two together. She knocked even harder on the window, which gained Peter's attention, since he was convincing Ned to keep his secret, as he ran to it, opened it, and helped her inside. She looked at Ned then to Peter with a disapproving look and stated, "Well, you're breaking all types of rules today, ain't ya?" Peter just looked at her bandages and stated, "Oh my gosh, Phantom. I'm so sorry. You got hurt because I wasn't being careful and following the rules. And now…" Phantom finished his statement, "And now Ned knows." Phantom turned to Ned and replied while taking out a small forget-me-flasher that her guild designed years ago whenever the mercenaries were saw by pedestrians. They got the idea from "Men in Black," and would use them whenever they could to make sure that no one would remember their actions. Ned asked if Peter and Phantom worked together as Avengers, but Phantom responded, "No, he's not an Avenger. He's an AIT, Avenger In Training. He's not Avenger until Mr. Stark and I give the okay, but after his actions today, he's shown me that he still has a long way to go." Peter looked at her perplexed by her response, but she stated, "Peter, you broke not one, not two, not even three of the rules, but you broke four today. And the top five of the rules as well, so don't even try to argue with me about this. Now Ned, I'm sorry, but I'm going to have to erase your memories of tonight. It's better for you not to remember. The less you know, the less likely that your life will be in danger." Peter grabbed her good hand with the device and interjected, "Wait, Phantom. It might be good for me to have a friend to know." Phantom had to do a double take to the boy and then she rebutted, "Seriously, Peter? NO! I told you what happens when a peer knows your secret. Peer pressure, life endangerment, secrets spreading: ring any bells? No, NO! I will not argue about this, it's better for all of us, if he doesn't know." Peter got in front of Ned and stated, "Phantom, it's my secret, therefore: my choice. I want Ned to remember, and I'll face any punishment you see fit." Phantom stared down the boys for a moment, sighed, and put the weapon away. She pivoted to the window, and left the room without saying a single word.

Peter didn't see Phantom again until school the next day. She left a note on his window stating that they weren't going to do parkour or hero training for the day due to her injuries. When Peter saw her, she was in a normal tight short sleeve, royal blue t-shirt with black skinny jeans on. She didn't even wear any makeup, heels, nor her jewelry that Peter got her. She was in her arm sling from her injury the day before, but she seemed to be walking just fine. When Peter saw her eyes, he knew that she was exhausted. Her eyes were really dull and she had bags underneath her eyes. Rand was holding her backpack along with his for her, since he believed that she couldn't hold it due to her injuries. All of the popular kids were helping her with her school supplies and even helping her to get to her class. When she and Peter made eye contact, she just looked down sadly and continued on her way with her friends. When they got to PE, Phantom was excused by Coach Wilson not to do Captain America Fitness Challenge until she felt like she could do it properly. Phantom thanked him and told him that she will keep records on how the other students were doing since she couldn't do the exam herself. Phantom used her aerokinesis to hold up the checkboard, and she wrote down all of the progress as she watched the students go at it. Phantom was watching in approval until she heard Ned yell out of nowhere, "PETER KNOWS SPIDERMAN!" Phantom shot a glare at the two boys, and Peter felt that look immediately from her. Peter then tried to cover up what Ned yelled, but Ned told the class that they were friends. Peter began to tell his story on how he met him, until Phantom approached them while stating, "Peter met him through me. I'm working with Spiderman at the moment, and since Peter is my pop culture expert, the two have crossed paths a couple of times while I went from normal to hero. It's completely normal, I assure you." When Flash told Peter that he should invite him to Liz's party, Phantom interjected, "No. He shouldn't. Spiderman isn't a party kind of guy. Now if we could drop the subject and get back to the exam that be great. And the next person to bring up Spiderman will deal with me… personally. Understood? NOW GET BACK TO IT!" When Phantom made her threat, everyone felt the coldness ruminating off of her. The bell rang signaling that the class time was over and everyone began to file out, while Peter looked frustrated. Phantom put her good hand on his shoulder and sent the messaged snidely in his head, "And this is why peers shouldn't know your secret." Phantom went over to Coach Wilson and handed him her report while she listened in to Peter and Ned's conversation.

Phantom skipped eating lunch in the cafeteria and chose to eat with Sun Wukong, who came to see her to report about the weapons that he recovered for her. "So, why exactly are you eating with me and not with your new school friends, or your new AIT?" Phantom just stabbed the venison that Sun got for her while replying, "It seems like he doesn't need me to help him make decisions anymore. I don't want to see him right now. He royally pissed me off." Sun smirked at her comment, because that meant that since she wouldn't hang out with Peter, she would hang out with him more. Phantom remained quiet for a moment, until she asked, "So did you ever find out where those weapons came from?" Sun continued to eat while he replied, "There are rumors that there is an underground weapons distributor, who manufactures the machines from alien tech. That's all I could find out from the time frame you gave me. You gonna come help me look after your school day?" Phantom ate elegantly, swallowed, and replied, "Stark stated he wanted us to figure out who is distributing the weapons and shut them down ASAP before they do anymore damage. I have to heal up my arm before I go, so I'll meet up with you at three-thirty." Sun smiled, nodded at her, and replied, "Okay. I'll pick up at your apartment at three-thirty." Phantom finished eating, told Sunny goodbye, and went back to her classes. Phantom and Peter continued the rest of their days. Peter went to go pick up Phantom to escort her home because he wanted to make sure she got home safe. She, the band, Andrew, and two other male performers, Kurt and Blaine, were setting up for their final set piece of the day. Phantom glance over to see Peter and when she saw him, she felt angry, so she told the crew that they were going to do "Don't Speak."

[[Andrew:]

You and me

We used to be together

Everyday together

Always

[Blaine:]

I really feel

That I'm losing my best friend

I can't believe

This could be the end

[Phantom and Kurt:]

It looks as though you're letting go

And if it's real

Well I don't want to know

[Phantom and Andrew:]

Don't speak

I know just what you're saying

So please stop explaining

Don't tell me cause it hurts

[Kurt and Blaine:]

Don't speak

I know what you're thinking

I don't need your reasons

Don't tell me cause it hurts

[Andrew and Kurt:]

Our memories

Well, they can be inviting

But some are altogether

Mighty frightening

[Phantom and Blaine:]

As we die, both you and I

With my head in my hands

I sit and cry

[Phantom and Andrew:]

Don't speak

I know just what you're saying

So please stop explaining

Don't tell me cause it hurts

No, no, no

[Blaine and Kurt:]

Don't speak

I know what you're thinking

I don't need your reasons

Don't tell me cause it hurts]

The music kept going while Phantom set her eyes on Peter as the performance continued:

[Phantom and Andrew:]

It's all ending

I gotta stop pretending who we are...

[Phantom:]

You and me I can see us dying

Are we?

[Phantom and Blaine:]

Don't speak

I know just what you're saying

So please stop explaining

Don't tell me cause it hurts

No, no

Don't speak

I know what you're thinking

I don't need your reasons

Don't tell me cause it hurts

Don't tell me cause it hurts!

[Phantom and Kurt:]

I know what you're saying

So please stop explaining

[Blaine and Phantom:]

Don't speak!

Don't speak!

Don't speak! Oh!

[Phantom and Andrew:]

I know what you're thinking

And I don't need your reasons

I know you're good

I know you're good

I know you're real good oh!

[Blaine, Kurt, Phantom and Andrew:]

La la la la la la La la la la la la

[Phantom:]

Don't, Don't, uh-huh Hush, hush darlin'

Hush, hush darlin'

[Blaine, Kurt and Andrew:] Oh, la la la la la la La la la la la la

[Blaine, Kurt, Phantom, Andrew:]

Oh! Don't tell me cause it hurts!

[Phantom:]

Hush, darlin' Hush, darlin'

[Blaine, Kurt and Andrew:] Oh, la la la la la la La la la la la la

[Blaine, Kurt, Phantom and Andrew:]

Don't tell me tell me cause it hurts!

Don't tell me cause it hurts}

Peter clapped at the performance set by the four performers. Phantom kept no mind to his praise, but only addressed the group telling them that it sounded good and also where they could improve before the dance. Rand stood up from his spot, helped Phantom down the steps of the stage and then they both passed Peter. While they passed, Phantom greeted stoically, "Peter." Peter felt a sense of abandonment at the little interaction that Phantom gave him. It took her ignoring him and not interacting with him for him to realize how much perkiness she gave him during his day. Yes, she did criticize him when it came to very little things, but overall, she would praise him for every little thing he would accomplish. Rand took Phantom back to her apartment, she gave him a kiss on his cheek to thank him, and she went inside her apartment to prepare a full day of work.

Phantom put some of the medical salt into her bathtub and applied her "special" medical ointment that she created herself over a year ago, using the precious Black Panther fruit that she snuck while she goes over to visit. She was glad that she did because she found out that Killmonger destroyed the sacred garden during his very short reign. She used the seeds that she took, and planted her own garden within her own garden in the Wakandan Capital. She did get into trouble from T'Challa by possessing the sacred fruit, but he was happy that they could replant the garden from the fruit that she had. She never told him that she had her own garden, but she only gave him one of her fruits. She would only use very small portions of the fruit for her healing ointments because if she used too much, it was cause her body to have a seizures. Phantom applied her ointment, allowed it to sink into the still opened wound. She had to admit that it burned to high heaven, but it wasn't enough to make her crumble in pain. Phantom undressed herself as quickly as she could, and hopped into her tub. She allowed herself to use whatever energy she had to go to healing her wound as much as she could from the inside out. The wound stitched itself together up to only being within only an inch deep and three inches wide. Phantom washed out the remaining ointment, hopped out of the tub, drained/cleaned the tub, dried herself off, and re-bandaged the wound. It still would be a nuisance during her job, but atleast she could move/fight with it. Phantom put on her black leather pants, one-inch black leather heels that went up to her ankles, a black trench coat with a small tail and hood, and her fresh face mask. She went to her kitchen, whipped up a quick dinner for Cerberus, and an energy snack made with her usual breakfast bar concoction and a little juice of the Black Panther fruit. She drank the ingredients instead of spreading and freezing it. It was almost enough to make her get sick, but she knew that she had to keep it down, so she calmed her stomach down. When it finally settled, she went to her second guest bedroom, grabbed all of the weapons that she thought would be needed for her assignment, injected herself with some morphine in her injured shoulder, and left.

Sunny was on the roof of the building ready to get started on their mercenary work. When Sunny turned to see her, he whistled at her outfit and commented, "Wow. I think that's the most amount of clothes I've ever seen you wear. It gives you a sophisticated kind of gorgeous look." Phantom rolled her eyes at the Monkey's clear flirtation while she replied, "I need this outfit to mask my injuries. My shoulder is still wounded while my leg has a clear healed look to it, giving enemies indication that it is my weak spot. Now, which way are we heading to?" Sun smiled at Phantom's stoic response. It reminded him of the good old days when they would constantly work together and it was the only time she would ever be serious with him. He walked up beside her to look where she was looking, and he responded, "We'll start with the Carmelos in Briarwood." Phantom relaxed, allowed her true abilities to set in, and her red eye began to glow as she responded, "Let's go." The two assassins ran and jumped to the building next to Phantom's apartment and they ran to Briarwood to begin their "search."

As Phantom and Sunny went to work, Peter quickly went to Phantom's apartment as Spiderman, went inside, and when he saw that it was empty, he assumed that she was seeking some medical help for her injured shoulder. He left a note stating that he wouldn't be doing herowork in the evening because he was going to be at Liz's party in the evening. When Aunt May took both Peter and Ned to the party, he felt an emissive amount of pressure and fear build up inside of him. Everything that Phantom ever lectured to him about his secret identity started to pour in and churn inside of him. He didn't think he was emotional able to attend this party and keep his secret intact. "I really wish Phantom was here. She would be able to help me, but… I just need to leave." He turned to his Aunt May and stated, "This is a mistake. Hey, let's just go home." When Aunt May try to give him a "talk" he felt himself being entirely embarrassed, so as soon as he had his chance, he stepped out of the car. When Ned caught up, he asked Peter if he had his suit, Peter showed him, but as soon as he did, he immediately heard Phantom say, "Make sure no one see's Peter Parker with Spiderman's suit. People will put the pieces together and know you're Spiderman. As soon as that happens… BAM, your life is then 100% in danger rather than the 50 when you're working." Peter felt guilty wearing the suit to this party. He is deliberately disobeying every single one of Phantom's rules about secrecy. When Peter heard Ned discussing the plan, he stomach began to churn up even more than before. He could already see the look of disappointment on Phantom's face, when she heard about what he had done.

Michelle stated, "I can't believe you are here at this lame party", immediately interrupting his thoughts. Ned tried to call her out, but she counter him with a mind thinker. Liz approaching the two boys, greeting them to her party, "I'm so happy that you guys came. I figured Phantom wouldn't be coming tonight due to her injuries, which I'm really sad about. There's pizza and drinks, help yourself." Peter and Liz had a cute little moment, until the three heard something break, so Liz went to go check up on it, leaving the two teen boys alone. As soon as Liz left, Ned turned to Peter while asking, "Dude, what are you doing? She's here, Spiderman it up." Peter knew instantly that he shouldn't. Phantom would tell him to be himself and encourage him to go talk to Liz as Peter, not as Spiderman. He distinctly remembered her stating to him, "If a girl is only interested in you because of Spiderman, then she isn't worth it. You're not just Spiderman, you're Peter Parker. And if a girl doesn't want to get to know you without him, then she isn't the one." Peter turned to his friend and proclaimed, "No. No, no, no, no, no. I can't. I cannot do this. Spiderman is not a party trick, okay? Look, I'm just gonna… be myself." As soon as Peter said that Ned replied, "Peter, nobody wants that." Peter felt immensely hurt by his friend statement and he could already hear Phantom stating, "I told you so," about friend's and peer pressure about Spiderman. As soon as he was about to walk out, Flash Thompson put all of the attention of the room on Peter about where Spiderman was. Flash played it out as if Peter imaged Phantom being his imaginary girlfriend and that she and Spiderman were together. Peter knew that Phantom would stick up to him if she were there, but instead of using his words, Peter decided to use Spiderman to shut Flash up, once and for all. Peter left the party, changed out of his clothes and rehearsed how he was going to go into the party. He looked down to the party and all he could hear about was Phantom's voice and how disappointed she was going to be in him.

While he was thinking, a blue shot sprang out not to far from where he was at. He decided then and there that that situation was more important than some high school party. Spiderman ran towards the destination and saw the weapon deal breaking down before his very eyes. While Peter watched, Ned called his cellphone, alerting the people he was trying to spy on. As soon as he heard his phone ring, he immediately remembered, "Rule number 12: Always have your phone on silent. No vibration, no nothing. It will be an immediate giveaway." When Peter saw one of the dealers pull a gun on the potential buyer, he decided to go into hero-mode and dropped down to protect the citizen. Spiderman told the gunman to shoot at him, and when the gunman went to change his position, he webbed the gun and engaged into a fight, without knowing that the other dealer was setting up another weapon against him. When Peter approached, the dealer struck him into the support beam of the bridge, knocking Peter to the ground. Peter webbed the car, so that they couldn't get away, and proceeded to hold on. While Peter fought to keep himself with his targets, the dealer called their boss to alert them about the hero trouble. When Peter had to run the short cut, he made a mental note about all of the property that he was damaging, because as soon as Phantom found out, she would try to pay for all of the damage that he did, because she was responsible for him. As soon as Peter was about to jump the car, he was caught by something that took him into the air at a rapid speed and then dropped him into a lake.

Peter proceeded to drown until the Iron Suit went into the lake and saved him by returning him to land. The suit fluttered in front of Peter, as he squeezed out all of the water that was within his Spidermask while Peter explained his story. Peter asked how Tony found him, Tony replied, "I put everything in your suit. Including this heater." The suit then proceeded to heat him up, as Tony began his lecture. "What were you thinking? Take him down now, huh? Steady Crockett. There are people who handle this sort of thing." Peter interrupted him by asking if it was the Avengers and Tony replied, "No, it is a little below their paygrade. Except for your mentor: Phantom. I assigned her and a colleague of hers to find the weapon makers and distributors and shut them down. This is what they do." Peter looked up to the suit and asked, "Phantom's working for you? As in, you get her missions?" Tony only responded casually, "Most of the time it's me. Phantom's a mercenary, kid. She works for money and intel. I may not be fond of that being her choice, but that's what it is: her choice. I assigned her this job last night, and she and her colleague went to work on it today." As soon as Peter heard that, he let out a puff of air out of disbelief. "Phantom wasn't healing herself, she was working a job. And without me. Why didn't she tell me? Why is she even working if she's 'hurt?'" Peter thought to himself. Peter turned to the suit and stated, "Anyway Mr. Stark, you didn't have to come out all the way out here. I had that. I was fine." The suit mask then opened up, revealing it to be without Tony operating it on the inside. Tony pled to Peter to forget about the flying vulture guy, and when Peter asked why, Tony replied, "Why? BECAUSE I SAID SO! Stay close to the ground, build up your game, helping the little people. Like that lady who bought you the churro? Can't you just be a friendly neighborhood Spiderman?" When Peter yelled that he was ready for more than that, the helmet went down, and Tony replied, "Judging by your reactions and Phantom's reports: no you're not." Peter felt offended, so he tried to argue that that's not what Tony thought when he fought Captain America, Tony countered, "Trust me, kid. If Cap wanted to lay you out, he would've. Listen to me: you come across these weapons again, call Phantom or Happy." When Peter heard the revving of a car, he asked Tony if he was driving, and Tony only replied, "You know, it's never too early to think about college. I got some pull at MIT. End call." When Peter tried to tell him that he didn't need college, the suit told him that Tony wasn't available anymore and flew off. Peter put on his mask, proceeded to head back, until he saw one of the weapons that had dropped from the truck on the ground. His phone then went off to reveal Ned calling and when he picked up, he told Ned that he was on his way back. Ned told him that it was better if he didn't and proceeded to have Peter listen to Flash make a dick out of himself to the party guests. Ned apologized to Peter explaining that they were still losers, and Peter hung up the phone. Peter picked up the weapon gently, examined it, and took it home.

When he got home, he gently hid the weapon in his backpack, so that he could take it to school the next day. After he put them away, he heard the struggling and grunting of fighting coming from the outside of his window. He looked outside to see a completely covered cloaked Phantom fighting off an array of black covered fighters all on her own. Peter watched as Phantom held her own against eight people, until three of the people stabbed her with long blades. One on her shoulder near her neck, another in her stomach, and the final on her left side. When all three of the withdrew their weapons, Phantom took a knee to the ground while the liquid dripped out of her body from the wounds and what seemed to be her mouth. Peter was about to go over to help her, until Phantom lurched her body up and spikes of blood shot up from the puddle stabbing her opponents in the areas of their hearts. After the blood spikes retracted, Phantom fell down to the floor and laid there for a moment. Phantom stood up on her own slowly, she flew back to her apartment, and landed on the fire escape. Peter heard the window above his open, and heard her step in. Peter looked down to see blood dripping onto his level of the fire escape, and then he heard a giant thud on the ceiling above him and whimpering coming from Cerberus. Peter jumped out of his room, quickly jumped up to her level, and climbed in to see Phantom collapsed on the floor. He saw many cuts on her outfit and a giant puddle of blood coming from her fallen form while Cerberus was scratching and jumping on the door trying to get to her. Peter went down to her, shook her a little, while stating with worrying, "Phantom. Oh my god, I'll call 911." Phantom shakenly replied, "No. Take me to my bathroom, quickly."

Peter gently picked up Phantom, opened the door to reveal a worried Cerberus, ran to her room, bust open her bathroom door, and placed her within her bathtub. Phantom instructed him to turn on the water faucet to warm water. As soon as he did that, she told him to get into her cabinet, grab the glowing purple liquid, pour it into the tub, grab her purple liquid syringe, and inject her from her neck. When Peter poured in the glowing purple liquid, it quickly spread throughout the tub, causing the bathwater to turn the glowing purple. When Peter had the syringe in his hand, he hesitated to stick it within her. Sun Wukong came rushing in to see Peter with the syringe within his hand. He rushed forward and asked, "What are you doing? You gotta inject her." Peter shook his head and replied, "I don't think I can do it." Sun gently took the syringe from Peter, and injected Phantom in her neck, allowing her medicine to work it's magic. The tub water slowly was changing back to its clear position. When the water cleared, Peter noticed that all of the minor wounds were healed and as the water cleared, he could see her bigger wounds healing themselves from the inside out. Sun went down and proceeded to take off Phantom's damaged clothes. When he did that, Peter asked while feeling embarrassed, "What are you doing?" Sun just kept going and stated, "Phantom is going to need a fresh set of clothes as soon as she's all healed up. After she's done with her bath, she's probably going to drink water nonstop for a couple of minutes, and when she's done, she's going to need to sleep for the evening. I'll tell Mr. Stark to call her in for a haft day, and she'll come in by fourth period." When Sunny took off her shirt to reveal Phantom's sports bra, Peter looked away as Sun proceeded to take of her pants, but chose to leave her underwear on. The boys listened to Phantom's breathing steady from its harder station from before. After most of the wounds were completely healed, leaving only the gash in her side and the one in front of her stomach.

Sun put his hand on her head, felt that her temperature was still normal, so he asked, "Phantom, you still have two gashes, so do you want another injection, or do you just wanna be bandaged up?" Phantom moaned for a moment and replied, "I'd better do another injection, so I'll be all healed up for tomorrow. Tell Tony to call me in for school, all day cause I'll need the recovery time." Sun nodded at her request, grabbed another syringe, injected it into her, and watched as her body proceeded to fully heal the rest of the wounds. While the wounds healed, Sun grabbed a trashcan, and placed it next to Phantom. After the wound healed, Phantom lurched forward, to the side, and proceeded to throw up purple liquid and blood in the trashcan while Sun rubbed her back. Peter watched at the interaction and completely understood, "Wow. Phantom and Sun Wukong really have been through a lot. No wonder Tony prefers them to work together. I'm probably just in their way." Peter got up and left her apartment, choosing to leave the two coordinated mercenaries together. Sun watched as the teen left them together. After Phantom finished getting sick, he felt her forehead, which was going on to be feverish. He picked her up, took her to her closet, allowed her to change into her underwear, dressed her in her pajamas, and gave her a giant 5 L water container next to her bed with a long straw, so that she could stay in bed while she drinks the water. After she drank all of the water, he tucked her in, and proceeded to call Tony to tell him their mission and progress report.

Peter went to school the next day and worked with the weapon tech. When Ned came up, he told him that they'll work on it together. While they talked about what work they were going to do, Peter spotted one of the dealers that tried to kill him the night before, and chose to hide for safety. Peter chose to follow the guys who were trying to find the weapon because they knew of an energy surge that happened before. Peter hid and placed a tracker on one of the men as they proceeded to leave. At the end of the school day, Peter went to go check on Phantom, and he saw that she was still in bed with a gel patch on her head. Her face was a little red, she looked as if she was in a little pain, and she was panting a little hard. Peter removed the patch from her head slightly, felt her forehead, and he knew that she still had a fever. He took out a thermometer and took her temperature, and when he saw it, he freaked out for a second. It was at 103 degrees Fahrenheit. Peter went up to his room and told Ned that they were going to station themselves upstairs at Phantom's place because she was really sick and needed some type of supervision. When they went to her living room, Ned just looked around at all of her knickknacks and photographs that she had. "Wow, she really has been an Avenger for a long time. LOOK HERE'S ONE WITH ALL OF THEM AT THE HOLIDAYS!" Peter smiled at Ned's observation at the young mercenaries place, but he shushed him and stated, "Shhhh… Phantom needs to rest. She has a high fever. You can look around, but just do it quietly, and make sure you watch the tracker. I'm going to make some soup for Phantom." Ned nodded at Peter's command, and when Peter went to open the door Cerberus pushed his way through scaring Ned haft to death. "AHHH! WHAT IS THAT THING?!" Ned screamed out. Peter shushed him again while replying quietly, "SHHHHHH! THIS IS PHANTOM'S PET CERBERUS!" Cerberus only smelled around the poor nervous Ned until he realized that the boy was no threat to his master. Cerberus just went back to Phantom room and hopped next to her trying to provide her as much warmth as he could. Peter smiled at the beast, quietly shut the door, and went to Phantom's kitchen to cook her soup. Ned, while watching the tracker and giving his report, explored the mercenary's apartment. To his surprise is seemed pretty normal, except for the dresser of the guest bed rooms with a bunch of weapons and the three monitors on one computer drive.

After Peter finished the soup, he went into Phantom's room, and saw her looking fast asleep. When he approached, she slowly opened her eyes and asked, "Peter? What are you doing here?" Peter shushed her calmly, and replied, "I'm here to make sure you get better. I made some chicken soup for you to help bring down your fever." Phantom sat up from her position, unlatched the bottom of her mask, grabbed one of the straws on her nightstand, and drank the soup. After she finished, she thanked him and told him to grab one of the clear pills in her medicine cabinet along with a trashcan. When he did, Phantom took the pill and after a couple of seconds, she was throwing up blood into the trash can with some purple gunk within it. Peter whipped out his phone to call 911, but she yelled, "Wait…*bleh* This is normal… *bleh* It's getting the contaminacted ill blood out of my body." After she continued to throw up, she drank up some of the water bottles that was on her nightstand. After she did that, she calmed herself down, and then she explained, "Okay, Peter. This is what happened. You remember that purple gunk that you put in my bathtub and syringes, well those were enhancers. Since my body healed itself up, it used the enhancers and now since my body is done, the enhancers were trying to restore my white blood cell count. Now that my body had too many white cells and remaining enhancers, I needed to get rid of them. That little pill has a chemical imbalance that made enhancers and extra white blood cells extract from my body. So that's why I have to throw up. My fever will go down in a couple of hours, so I just need to sleep. You are Ned are welcome to stay. Go ahead and watch some TV, eat some food, and play with Cerberus if you want." After she said that, Phantom laid back down, and fell asleep. After she did that, Cerberus followed Peter out of her room, and chose to hang out with him and Ned. After a couple of hours of watching the tracker, they realized that the men were stopped in Maryland. When Ned asked how they were going to get there, Peter and Ned looked the decathlon poster that Phantom had on her fridge, and they both instantly knew where they were going. Peter went into Phantom room, gently shook her awake, and asked, "Hey, Phantom, do you still want to go to DC for the Decathlon?" Phantom slowly woke up to Peter, smiled, nodded, and told him sure while she drifted back to sleep.

The next day, Phantom woke up feeling good as new. She looked and saw that she woke up before the sunrise, so she got out of bed, gave herself and Cerberus a shower, dressed herself, and made breakfast for everybody. When Peter woke up, he went up to check on Phantom, only to see her cooking in her kitchen. She smiled at him and his pajamas while stating, "I made some breakfast. I'm going to call my dog sitter for Cerberus, then Tony, and then Happy letting them know we're going to DC. Eat while I go make my calls." Peter smiled at her. She seemed to be doing a lot better, but then he realized what all she had been up to before to get her injuries, so he replied, "I'm not really hungry. I'll meet you at the bus later." Then he left a puzzled Phantom with food still her hand. She looked at Cerberus, who only gave her a look of confusion. She gave Cerberus Peter's portion of food, made all of the call/arrangements, packed for DC, and went to the meeting area for the trip.

Phantom showed up as Flash was trying to tear Peter up a new one. When the teacher welcomed Peter back, Phantom smirked at Flash, walked up to Mr. Harrington, and asked sweetly, "Hello Mr. Harrington. Listen, I know I'm not part of the team, but I was wondering if I could catch a ride to DC since you guys are going this weekend. I can quiz the others on the way and pay for my own accommodates, such as room, food, and various other things. IF that's alright with you?" Mr. Harrington only nodded his head while shaking her hand as his response. Phantom smiled at the man's response, put her stuff into the bus, and proceeded inside. Along the way, Phantom quizzed the members with the flash cards that Liz had prepared. While Phantom quizzed them, Peter got a call from Happy, who was calling about Peter being out of New York. Peter responded, "Uh, yeah. It's just a school trip. Which I think Phantom called you about this morning. Look Happy, I gotta say, you tracking me without my permission is a complete violation of privacy." When Peter tried to tell him that it wasn't a big deal, Happy told him that he would decide if it was no big deal, Peter argued, "Phantom doesn't think it's a big deal. In fact, she's here with me." Happy went silent for a moment, until he stated, "Sounds like no big deal, but remember I'm watching you both." While Phantom saw Peter on the phone, she passed Liz the notecards and went to where the boys were to listen in on Peter's phonecall. As she heard Peter sass Happy, she giggled slightly, so that Happy wouldn't hear her. After Peter hung up the phone, Ned asked if it was Tony or Thor, which Peter replied, "No. I don't think Thor uses a phone." Phantom intruded and stated, "Oh he did once. Slammed it against the ground when he couldn't text. It was so funny to watch." Ned snorted from Phantom comment about Thor's phone. As soon as she stated that, damage control cars drove past the bus, which made Peter and Ned look out the windows. When Peter asked what was going on, Michelle told them that it was damage control cleaning up after Cap shut down those three aircrafts for no reason. Ned tried to defend Cap, but Michelle told him that's what "they" wanted him to think. As soon as Phantom heard that, she got defensive, "Did she… did she just… OH HELL NO! You need to sit your left-winged ass down and recognize. This wasn't a "they" issue, this is to save the world from a mass genocide. It wasn't for no reason! I was there and we were after an international enemy. So before you start stating out random facts that you learn from 'the dark web,' actually ask someone who was there. Otherwise, you and I will be having a lot of words." Phantom then went back up to the front of the bus and continued to quiz the other students, even though she was still angry at Michelle.

When they arrived, Phantom checked herself into a private room next to Peter's and Ned's. She went over to Peter and Ned's room to see if either of them wanted to practice for their decathlon questions for the next day. Peter was the one to answer the door and when he saw her, she saw that his face went from nervous to upset. "Are you alright, Peter?" Phantom asked. Peter just turned away from her concerned face and replied quietly, "Yeah, I'm alright." That one comment hit Phantom like a bunch of fist at once to her gut. She looked at him with a lot of concern on her face. Phantom went to reach out to Peter, but he only moved out of her reach. Phantom felt another wave of punches in her gut from that action. She asked with hurt in her voice, "What's wrong? Did I do something wrong?" Peter remained silent, until Phantom pushed her way in, looked at Ned and asked, "Ned, can you give Peter and I the room for couple of minutes, please?" Ned stood up from his spot and left the hotel room, leaving Phantom and Peter alone together. Peter sat down his bed while Phantom shut the door, shut the bedroom curtains, and shut off the lights. She used Peter's confusion of the lights going out to grab, pin, and straddle him. As soon as she did, a lone light from a lamp of the other side of the room illuminated her to him. She looked very upset, but determined. "Okay, Peter, I'm going to give you the option: either you tell me what I did wrong or I'll find out myself. Now, what's it going to be?" Peter remained quiet, so she reached her face down to his and paused right before their lips met. "Are you sure you don't want to tell me?" Peter remained quiet, so Phantom sighed, and gently brushed her lips against Peter to give him the warning of what she was going to do. Peter tensed up, and Phantom kissed a tad harder, connecting their minds.

When Peter was inside Phantom's mind, he saw the arrangement of doors that Bucky saw, with the exception of the newer doors that were cream colored. He opened up the one that seem to have a golden tint to it and when he did he found himself at the Queens Botanical Gardens. The sun was setting, and he felt his body moving itself forward without paying him any conscious. His head turned around on its own and he saw his own self, looking dazed by the figure before him, and by looking and judging the scenario that was surrounding him, Peter knew exactly where he was. He was within Phantom's memory, and this was the memory of the night of her performances. When Peter saw the look on his face through Phantom's eyes, he immediately thought to himself, "Damn. I looked really stupid just by staring at her like that." After that the memory ended, which led Peter back into the long hallway of doors. He thought that he didn't have enough time, so he chose to pick the next door by the quantity of the doors. When he saw that there were only two black colored, he decided to choose the one the was right after the white ones. He would soon later, he should have just picked the other black door, because what he saw was the memory of the day she lost her family.

While Peter was rummaging through Phantom's memories, she decided to find out the reason why he was so upset with her. When she connected their minds, she found herself in a long hallway full of photographs. She looked at all of the photos and saw in slow motion the memories that Peter possessed through his life. She came across one that caught her eye immediately. The lining on the outside of the photo was light pink and when she saw the picture, it completely caught her off guard. It was a memory of her the night of the performances when she led him in the botanical gardens. The way the light hit her along with the smile she bared, it really gave off the impression that Peter was smitten by her, but she knew that not to be true because he was infatuated by Liz Allen. "I mean, why wouldn't he? She's beautiful, smart, kind. She everything that Peter deserves. Not someone who taints everything she loves," Phantom stated aloud to herself sadly. Phantom put the photograph of her down and walked over to the most recent photos, and stopped when she saw the one with the Iron Suit late at night. She picked up the photograph, and when she did she was sent into the perspective of Peter talking to Tony through the Iron Suit about Phantom and her mission work, after she bounced back from the memory, she immediately expressed outloud, "Dammit, Tony. That's why he's so fucking mad at me."

After Phantom stated her expression aloud, she decided to disconnect their minds, and when she came back first, she immediately stopped kissing Peter, and waited for him to come back. When she fully came to her senses and waited for Peter, she saw that he was subconsciously crying. Phantom knew of the few memories that would cause him to cry unconsciously, so she decided that once Peter woke up, he would need his own space. She got off of him and sat down at the foot of the bed and just thought of plans that she could do to make Peter happy and forgive her for doing jobs for the Avengers without informing Peter. As soon as Peter stirred awake, he sat up to see Phantom just looking down at the foot of the bed. Without even turning around, she asked him sadly, "Which memory did you see?" Peter scooted over to her, and without warning, he threw his arms around her from her back, while crying, shaking, and whimpering to her. Phantom was shocked at the unsuspecting physical contact, but as soon as she read the silent, yet powerful response, she touched his hand softly to show that she was acknowledging his comfort. "The family one," she began to say. Phantom felt Peter nod his head on her shoulder as he continued to hold her. After a moment, Phantom patted down a spot next to her silently to tell him that she wanted to talk. Peter let go of her and sat down positioned towards her as she turned towards him.

Peter went to wipe away some of his tears, but Phantom reached up and kindly wiped his face with a handkerchief that she had handy. As she wiped his face, she apologized, "Peter, I'm so sorry that I didn't tell you that I was working for Tony as part of my missions. In all honesty, I believed that the assignments were too dangerous for you. You deal with, not to be mean when I saw this, mediocre criminals. I dealt with people who wouldn't hesitate to kill you as soon as you were within their sights. That's why I didn't tag you along. If I thought that you would be within any life or death situation, my job is to get you out of there ASAP. If something were to happen to you, anything, it would be my fault, because I couldn't keep you safe and I couldn't live with myself if that were to happen. You mean so much to me Peter, and if you were hurt, I might go berserker on somebody. I… I didn't mean to hurt your feelings by not inviting you, I just wanted you to be safe and have a normal life. I'm sorry." Peter listened to her explanation wholeheartedly. He had to admit, that it hurt for her to explain that she didn't invite him because she thought that he couldn't handle it, but he understood why she was so concerned. It was her job to be concerned and he couldn't argue with her instincts. He really just wanted to prove her that he could accomplish more than she thought he could. Peter touched her hand that was on her lap and explained, "It's okay. I understand, Phantom. I just… I just… wanna say that… I'm so sorry about…" Phantom put her forefinger of her other hand to his lips to hush him, and she stated, "It's fine, Peter. It's been almost ten years since the… incident. I can't say I'm over it, but I can say I've been moved from the experience. I've used that memory to drive myself to where I am today. Yes, it was… painful and it is still painful to think about, but I also like my happier and kinder memories to help me in my life as well. Also, you don't have to call me Phantom anymore. You know my real name, so just call me Victoria, or Tori, whatever you feel like." Both of them smiled at each other and Peter heard Phantom say within his mind, "I truly am sorry about not telling you about Tony's jobs." Peter looked perplexed, so he asked, "Umm… did you send that thought?" Phantom shook her head and explained without speaking, "No. When I connect my mind to someone else's like the way I did ours, it allows both of us access to our thoughts within a certain vicinity even when we aren't touching. But it only connects me to you. I've done this with Sunny before, so he and I have our minds connected, but you can't access his mind." Peter smiled at her and asked, "Does that mean you can hear my thoughts without my permission or without me knowing?" Phantom nodded slowly and replied out loud, "Unfortunately, yes. And vice versa. Well… that's not entirely true. If you can learn to close out your mind, then you can keep me out, and vice versa. All it takes is you thinking of impenetrable wall surrounding your mind and thoughts. It takes a while to handle and use at all times, but with enough practice, you'll get it." She smiled at Peter at the end of her explanation to show that she had complete faith in him. She and Peter then hugged it out, and Ned walked in to the two holding each other. Phantom quickly let go, stood up, and stated, "Well, since we've reached our understanding, I'm gonna go. I'm going to go back to my room and work on some of my homework since I actually have time. Have a good evening boys, don't study too hard, and get enough sleep for tomorrow. I'll see you guys." Both of the boys said their goodbyes to Phantom as she left the room to head towards hers.

When she got to her room, she set up her mind wall and proceeded to call Sunny, proving that she was once again keeping secrets from Peter. Little did she know Peter was doing the same thing by removing his tracker and heading up to Maryland to go hunt down the distributors. It took three rings until Sun picked up the phone and responded happily, "Hey! How's DC?" Phantom always appreciated Sun Wukong's informal attitude towards her. Even when it came to their mercenary work, he would flirt, tease, and make incisive amounts of jokes and puns. She smiled and stated, "It's fine. I had a talk with Peter about our jobs and why I wasn't taking him. He seemed to have taken it well, but I know he's still upset about it. Did you find anything about the dealers?" Sun frowned on the other side of the line by the sadness in Phantom's voice about Peter being upset, but he decided to hide his jealousy and he stated with seriousness within his voice, "The main dealers that we managed to capture after we took out the Manini Family were interrogated by me personally. I found out that they were only pack mules sent by the main distributors of the 'company.' They sold very small minor weapons that their boss creates. I managed to learn that the industry makes the weapons out of stolen parts from the fights that the Avengers have been in, such as alien tech from New York and Ultron tech from Sokovia." Phantom nodded at all of the information that Sun Wukong delivered to her, and then she asked, "Anything else?" Sun looked through the file and replied, "Yes, apparently the main boss has a body suit with giant metal wings and talons. He calls himself 'The Vulture,' and he's progressing more and more into a boss though. He's already killed one of his best sellers in front of the others to prove his point that his business and his family comes first. He has a single daughter and he is still with his wife. No one knew his name though, but I'll keep looking. While you're in DC, can you hack into the private files of the cleanup crews? I wanna see if they have been distributing to the dealers." Phantom told him, "Alright. I'll do that now and I'll send it to you through email, okay? Good luck continuing your search. Thanks." Sun replied his thanks and then they both hung up their phones at the same time and went to their work.

After Phantom sent the files, she decided to call Happy, while she looked to Peter's suit to make sure that he was still within the hotel room. She saw that the suit was still next door, so she didn't worry too much as she called Happy who answered the phone after she called him three times. "What do you want, Phantom? I'm busy with the move." Phantom smirked over the phone and replied, "Hopefully not too busy for my Cerberus?" Happy was about to respond, except for when Cerberus got very excited when heard his name from his master over the phone. Cerberus jumped on Happy as he was about to answer her question. Cerberus yelped and bark for his master to hear him and it made her very happy to hear that the big strong wolf was happy to hear from her, so she yelled in a baby toned voice, "HELLO CERBERUS! HOW'S MY BIG BABY?! OH, MOMMY MISSES YOU TOO!" She heard Cerberus getting more and more excited from her baby toned voice and kept jumping on Happy who was protesting and telling the wolf to get down. Phantom laughed at Happy's protesting of the excited wolf. "So, how is Cerberus? You are walking, feeding, and allowing him to go outside, right? You also remember that he is allowed to interact with the citizens of New York? They love him and adore giving him treats, OH, and the little kids love to do piggyback horse rides on his back, and he loves doing it." Happy just responded, "Yeah, yeah," as Phantom prattled on about what all Cerberus liked to do in the city during his walks. After Phantom's speech about Cerberus, she told Happy not to work too hard and to make sure to put on Eccle's Sonata in G minor for Cerberus's lullaby music.

After that, she hung up the phone to attend to knocking on her door. Phantom ran over to see Liz through the peephole, waving at her to answer the door. Phantom opened it and answered, "Hey Liz, what's up?" Liz smiled at her and replied, "Well all of the decathlon team is going for a midnight swim and we were wondering if you would like to come with us?" Phantom smiled, nodded, and told Liz, "Sure, I'd love to come swimming with you guys. Just give me a moment to change into my swimsuit, okay?" Liz nodded her head, Phantom shut the door, went to her bag, and pulled out her two piece bikini set bathing suit. It was a black halter top that covered the perfect amount of her breast to make them show their cleavage, yet still be covered if Phantom was fighting in the water, so that she wouldn't have a "nip-slip." The bottom were nothing special, just plain black that covered her lover torso nicely while showing off her athletic legs and part of her butt cheeks. After she changed, she put on her black shaw that was painted with a pinkish sunset that she obtained in Jamaica around her waist. Phantom put on her black sandals and went out the door to see everyone except for Peter and Ned to see. As soon as she stepped out, Peter steeped out of his room with a gray hoodie and sweatpants. As soon as Peter saw her, he felt his mouth drop to the floor at how she looked in her bikini and shaw. She smiled at him and asked, "You gonna come swimming with us Peter?" All of the rest of the group past them, as Phantom was about to talk to Peter. All of the group past to say hi, while Flash spanked both Peter and Phantom's ass's as he ran past them. Phantom got really shitty in that moment and was about to tell him off, until Liz shushed her and stated, "A rebellious group activity the day before competition is good for morale." Phantom nodded her head understanding that Liz and the group were going to swim without permission, which was perfectly okay with her, but that meant that they had to be quiet. When Peter questioned it, Liz tried to explain where she got that info from and when Phantom saw the astonished look on his face, she quietly slipped away from the two to go to the stairs to go swimming so that she could have been alone for a couple of minutes.

As soon as she went to the staircase, she went down one flight of stairs and sat down on the steps as soon she reached to where she wanted in a corner. She brought her knees to her head and laid her forehead on them. Phantom felt pain and jealousy radiating off of her in that one moment of seeing Liz and Peter talking to each other. Phantom knew this would happen when she connected Peter and her minds. She knew that her feelings for Peter would deepen because of the psychological connection that the two would have. She shook from her jealousy as a couple of tears streamed down to her face. "I knew this would happen. It always happens." Phantom thought back to all her past failed love interest. First was Steve: he and her were just yin and yang. Total opposites that just balanced each other out in the right way, until… Steve began to act like her causing the scale to tip to one side. Pietro: They both had a flirtatious connection. It wasn't much, but it was nice until they both died. Bucky: they were both just born in the wrong place, the wrong time, and placed on the wrong sides of fate. Now Peter: He's too pure, innocent, and kind for her. Plus he was already interested within someone else, and she knew that she had no chance against Liz. She was prettier, smarter, and kinder than Phantom. Liz was an ideal match for Peter, and Phantom didn't want to interfere with that union. As Phantom comforted and cried to herself, Peter, who was sneaking out, felt a wave of sadness coming from the destination of the staircase. He turned around only to hear Phantom's sad voice within his head, "He deserves so much better than me. They all deserve so much better than me." Peter was about to go towards where that wave came from while putting on his mask, until the voice of his suit greeted him. He listened until the voice asked him where he was taking her, and when Peter told her where he placed the tracker, she showed him which way to go. Peter said as long as he was back to the decathlon in time, he would be fine. He jumped one foot ahead, remembered Phantom, and turned around while frowning. The AI asked him what was wrong and why he'd stopped, but Peter thought to himself, "I'm sorry… Victoria." He then stated nothing to the AI and took off to go find the distributors. As soon as Phantom had her little self-pity party, she cleaned herself up, and joined the rest of the decathlon team for their night of swimming and fun.

The next morning, Phantom woke up feeling really energized. She really needed that little self-pity party to let out the tears that she had been storing for a really long time. She got up, dressed in a nice business attire that consisted of a white long sleeve button up shirt, a black pencil skirt with a matching black jacket, and black two-inch pump heels. She put on her natural makeup, and proceeded to go to get the boys for their big day. She knocked on their door softly and stated cheerfully, "Ned, Peter, come on boys, you're going to be late." She heard Ned yell out hold on a second, shuffled around, answered the door, came out, and shut it as quickly as he could. Phantom stood before him, incredibly perplexed, so she stated, "Ned, what happened, where's Peter?" Ned tried to tell her that he wasn't feeling well, so Phantom tried to go in while stating, "Then I'll go check up on him. He might need some medical attention." Ned got in her way and yelled, "NO! YOU CAN'T GO IN THERE!" Phantom, realized that something was up, pushed Ned out of the way, and got herself in. She examined the room and when she saw no sign of Peter, she turned around to Ned and asked, "Ned, I know his tracker is in here, so I'm only going to ask you once, where did he go?" Ned was quiet until he just showed her where the GPS signal came from, she let out a heavy sigh, and exclaimed, "DAMMIT PETER!" She made her way past Ned, told him to go to the decathlon like nothing was wrong, and that she would find Peter. She ran into her room, changed into her mercenary attire that she wears with Sun Wukong, pulled out her phone, and made a call to a mercenary guild within the vicinity. When they answered, she told them that she needed a job to find Spiderman alive and that she would pay every member within their guild the same wage even if only one of them found him before she did. The guild master agreed, and then Phantom began to take off towards the direction of where the signal ended during the midnight hour in Maryland on a motorcycle that she had stored in DC just in case she needed it for a mercenary job. While she drove, she accessed FRIDAY through her own Stark technology, and asked, "FRIDAY, I need a visual of what Spiderman sees, NOW!" FRIDAY tried to tell her that due to the unlocking system of the training wheels protocol, Phantom had no right to access Spiderman's personal files, until Phantom replied, "Initiate Protocol Overdrive System: Alpha over Beta." FRIDAY system then was overruled by Phantom's protocol and Phantom got visual of cameras looking forward on a highway heading back to DC. When Phantom saw that Peter was coming back, she turned her bike around, and headed back to where she knew he would be going: the decathlon.

When she arrived, she parked her bike right infront of the building and waited for Peter to return while she was fuming with anger. "I knew he was to something. I should have trusted my instincts and took the suit from him when I knew it were here. He's gonna be in so much when he gets back." While she waited, Peter, trying to get back as soon as he could due to the bomb that Ned still possessed tried to call Ned as much as possible. The team came out with their trophy intact, Phantom, who was still focusing on looking for any sign of Peter, congratulated them haft heartedly. They told her that they were going to go to the Washington Monument if she wanted to come, but she told them that she needed to wait for someone and that she would meet up with them later. When they all left, she finally received the call from Peter. She was furious when she answered, "You got some nerve to be calling me after you SNUCK OUT TO DO HEROWORK WITHOUT ANY SUPERVISION! WHAT DO YOU HAVE TO SAY FOR YOURSELF?! I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU WOULD DO THIS, AND I PROMISE YOU AS SOON AS WE GET BACK TO NEW YORK, YOU ARE GROUNDED! NO SUIT, NO HEROWORK, NO STARK, NO LIZ, NO EXTRACURRICULAR ACTIVITIES, NO NOTHING! DO YOU UNDERSTAND ME?!" As she continued to yell at him, Peter yelled, "PHANTOM, PLEASE LISTEN TO ME! NED HAS A BOMB ON HIM! AN ALIEN BOMB THAT WILL EXPLODE IF EXPOSED TO RADIUM!" As soon as Phantom heard him yell that, she immediately stopped and asked, "WHAT?! NED HAS A CHITAURI BOMB! They're going to Washington Monument, and that means… THEY'LL HAVE TO GO THROUGH AN X-RAY!" Phantom hopped on her bike, put on her police light on the front of her bike while turning on her siren, and sped off through the crowds towards the Washington Monument.

By the time she arrived, she saw that the preset of the explosion go off, so she hopped off her bike and used her aerokinesis to fly her up the elevator shaft. She used her aero kinetic abilities to sustain her as well as the elevator while holding the metal structure on the inside together along with the primary stone encasing. She heard Peter through her comm asking, "Do you have the elevator?" She responded strained, "Yes… but I'm also holding together this damn building. Get up here and get these kids out now!" Peter followed Phantom's order and climbed up the monument as fast as he could. When Phantom felt the movement on the inside the elevator, she yelled, "Everything's gonna be okay, you guys! IF you could not move so much, that would great!" Phantom saw that the destruction was getting worse, so she yelled, "OKAY, CHANGE OF PLANS! I'M GONNA PUSH UP GUYS UP AS FAR UP AS I CAN AND THEN Y'ALL ARE GONNA GET OUT THROUGH THE TOP LATCH!" Phantom added even more of the limited air within her disposal, and pushed the elevator to a safe distance where everyone could get out, while she yelled, "SPIDEY, I NEED YOU IN HERE NOW!" When Flash fussed about going next, it made the elevator move even more, which strained Phantom more than it should have. She kept it up as much as she could, until she felt her heart stop beating for a couple of seconds and she and the elevator fell and the building began to collapse. Peter caught the elevator with his webbing but Phantom continued to fall. She hearing seemed to have been drowned out by the blood that was clogging her ear canals, so she barely heard the screaming of those falling. Her vision began to blur and she felt her body going completely limp and cold. She was lost within herself until she heard Peter through her mind, "PHANTOM, HELP!" Phantom's vision came back, and she used her falling momentum to catch herself on the fence surrounding the elevator, cut it open with her vibranium knife, slipped in, and got her footing while holding up the rest of the building, while yelling to Peter, "I GOT THE BUILDING! GET THEM OUT OF THE ELEVATOR!" Phantom held her own and when she saw the elevator come down she allowed it to hit, while she watched Peter grab Liz, and get her to safety. After a moment of them just staring, Peter's webbing broke, and as he fell, Phantom grabbed him with her bare hand, threw him to the stairs, while yelling out to Flash's question, "REALLY FLASH?!" Phantom looked over to Peter and told him, "Spidey, Imma need you to get into my left front pocket and grab the syringe that shines bright blue, and inject it into my neck, okay? QUICKLY!" Peter nodded his head, grabbed the syringe, stuck it into her neck, and pushed the liquid into her. The building shook for a moment, until Phantom held it together and pulled in all of the loose metal and stone until it reached it's former position.

After she did that she dropped to her knees, as blood continued to flow out her mouth, eyes, and ears. Peter went to her, but she only stopped him by lifting a single hand to him and told him, "No. Go get the others out of the building. I can handle myself." After Peter left, Phantom slowly walked down the stairs, until she reached the bottom, and then the guild master of the region met her at the bottom and helped her to their private facilities. The men helped to check her out, take her liquid enhancer out, and then bandaged her up while proclaiming, "You gotta start taking it easy. Holding that whole building really took a toll on you. Your heart started to do an irregular pattern, your white blood cell count decreased and then increased exponentially, which caused your body to react the way it did, and some of your body muscles and brain waves gave out. Just take it easy for about two – three weeks and you'll be okay." Phantom thanked them and then they took her back to her hotel, she paid them for their services, and then she and the school group headed back to New York. Phantom didn't say a word to neither Peter nor Ned the whole way home, mainly because she just slept it off. When they got back, Phantom saw all of the family's reunited with their kids and when they saw her, they immediate began to thank her and told her to thank Spiderman for them. As soon as she had enough of the people telling her that, she raised her arms to all of the citizens, and she exclaimed, "Ladies and Gentlemen, I am proud and appreciative of all your praise, and I will let Spiderman know all of his contributions to the situation in DC, thank you." Phantom grabbed her gear and left all the people with the puzzlement of her statement.

After Phantom got home, she began to make her calls to the formal groups that were required for what she needed to do next. When she had all of files and her squad assembled, she went downstairs, and knocked on Peter's apartment door. Aunt May answered the door, and she was extremely surprised by what she saw. She saw Phantom, three men with suits and briefcases, and a squadron with scanners and other tech within radium resistant suits on. Phantom had her old stoic expression, stepped forward, and stated, "May Reilly Parker? My name is Phantom Stark, and I work with the Avengers, Stark Industries, and the Damage Control Center. I understand that your nephew was part of the explosive situation at the Washington Monument, correct?" May nodded at her, and so she continued, "My team and I have been assigned to search Mr. Parker's room for any existing explosives or radium within his room and any items he may have taken with him to Washington. My lawyers have the legal documentation stating that we have the right to search and take anything that might cause any harm or explosions." She nodded at Phantom and her squad. As they passed, the lawyers handed May the documents that they had that gave them their right to search and they went into an unsuspecting Peter's room. Peter just sat up quickly and asked, "What-what's going on?" Phantom led Peter out of the room as some of the radium experts scanned Peter's body for any radium, as she explained, "Damage Control and I need to search your room for any radium or alien tech just in case, because we don't need another Monument incident." Phantom brought Peter in as much as she could, and whispered, "I took the liberty to take out both of your Spiderman suits and they are both in my apartment upstairs, so your secret is still safe. Just stand by and allow us to search." Peter was about to argue with her, but she stated quietly, "You have no right to argue right now. You're lucky that get to keep that suit and that Tony didn't find out. This is make sure you're not hiding any more dangerous secrets from me." Phantom left him at that and continued forward with the rest of the squadron. After the search, Phantom gave the written report about what all they didn't find and that their apartment was going to be perfectly fine. Phantom and the squadron took off to go examine the other houses as procedure. After they got the all clear from everyone, Phantom contacted Tony and told him the reports.

The next day, Phantom chose to avoid Peter because she was afraid that she was going to hurt him and say something that she would later regret. She watched as all of the students had Spiderman and Phantom Fever. They dressed up as booth of them and even had shirts, headband, and various of other things to celebrate both of the heroes. Phantom had to sign many autographs from other students that never really talked to her. Phantom managed to see Peter about to sneak out of school until he got caught by the principal. Phantom followed only to see Peter thrown into detention. As he got escorted by the principal, Phantom just looked him and send the thought in his mind, "You're going down a very dangerous path, Peter. You need to reconsider a lot of things, so think about what exactly you've been doing over the past couple of day and truly ask yourself: is that what an Avenger SHOULD do?" Peter turned back to her, only to see her walking away. Phantom left the building and went to go to work with Sun Wukong on finding the main boss of the distributors.

While they went to work, Phantom requested, "FRIDAY, I want total surveillance of Spiderman and any action he takes. I know the tracker is gone, but I want any type of sign of knowing where he is, understand?" FRIDAY then responded, "Spiderman has just interrogated Aaron Davis." Phantom felt confused and asked, "Aaron Davis? Why him?" FRIDAY explained that Aaron Davis was trying to buy weapons from the distributors and Phantom asked where she could find him. FRIDAY sent her the directions of Aaron Davis and Phantom told Sunny to go to the destination where the big deal was going down on the ferry while she was going to go talk to a lead. When Phantom arrived she saw Aaron webbed down to the trunk door of his car. Phantom pulled out a handheld gun, pointed it at Aaron, who didn't see her coming, and she yelled in her full intimidation mode, "ALRIGHT, MR. DAVIS! I NEED ALL OF THE INFORMATION THAT YOU GAVE SPIDERMAN NOW!" Aaron put his one free up in the air to show his surrender to the mercenary with two fierce eyes with a gun pointed to his head. "OKAY, OKAY! I TOLD SPIDEY I DIDN'T WANT THOSE TYPE OF WEAPONS IN MY NEIGHBORHOOD AND I TOLD HIM THAT A BIG DEAL WAS GOING DOWN ON THE FERRY!" Phantom put the gun down and whistled for the police to surround the man, while she commanded, "Take him in, boys." Phantom then hopped on her bike and took off towards the ferry stop while the police took Aaron in for processing for trying to buy illegal firearms.

When Phantom arrived, she saw that the ferry had already set sail towards the other end of the river. She was about to turn her bike towards the jetskies rental shop, until a giant purple ray shot out from one side of the ferry down the middle to cut it in haft. Phantom knew that she had to take it easy and not use her abilities, but this was a crucial moment and lives were in danger, so she jumped off of her bike, into the water, only to create a cyclone from it with her on top and sped towards the boat. After she almost arrived, she saw Peter desperately trying to hold the ship together with his webbing, and from the corner of her eye she saw the Iron Man suit approaching ready to assist them both. When she got close enough, she used her abilities to keep the water out of the ship so that it wouldn't sink, and she began to move the metal of the different sides of the boat towards one another, while she yelled, "TONY, WELD IT TOGETHER!" After Tony greeted Peter, and his little helper bots helped Phantom in pushing the boat together, he went to work to completely weld it back together, while Peter was trying to find some way to help. Phantom and Tony told him that they both thought he helped enough. As both Phantom and Tony finished helping to get the ferry and the people to the safety onto the shore.

After the ship was cleared and safe, Phantom and Tony helped the citizens off of the ferry while Phantom helped healed any of the citizens that had any injuries. While Phantom finished off healing the citizens, Tony flew off towards Peter to go tell him his state of mind. "Previously on Peter's Screwed the Pooch, I tell you to stay away from this. Instead, you hacked multimillion-dollar suit, so you could sneak around behind my and Phantom's backs, doing the one thing we told you not to do." Phantom finished off when Tony began to give Peter the third degree and flew up just as Tony began to blame Peter for the ship's incident. Phantom landed on the stone railing and gave a look of disappointment as Peter tried to explain himself to his two mentors/guardians. When Peter began to get into Tony's face and try to say that Tony didn't care, Phantom jumped down, tried to put her hand up to back Peter off, and trying to get in the middle of the men while stating, "Wait, Peter he's really…" Before she could even finish her sentence and get in-between them, Tony had already stepped out of the suit and walked towards Peter, who was backing away from Tony. Tony explained to Peter what all he went through to get people to trust him and Phantom once again. When Peter tested the water by telling Tony that he was fifteen, Tony, who was already pissed, lost his cool, "No, THIS IS WHERE YOU ZIP IT! The adult is talking. What if somebody had died tonight? Different story, right? Because that's on you. And if you died… I feel like that's on me. I don't need that on my conscience." Phantom knowing that Tony was going on a self-guilt trip, decided to step in to Tony's side, touched his upper arm gently, and stated, "No Tony. That'd be on me. It was my fault. I was the one who wasn't watching him. All of this was my fault because I didn't do my job properly and I'm sorry." Tony slapped her hand away as he continued to talk to Peter, who was trying to apologize to the two, "I'll deal with you later. Sorry doesn't cut it." Peter felt really emotional so he stated, "I just wanted to be like you." Both Phantom and Tony replied to his statement at the exact same time, "And I/we wanted you to be better." As soon as he heard that, Peter had to turn his head away from his mentors.

Tony decided that the two teens had their fun, thought that it was time, "Okay. It's not working out. I'm gonna need the suit back." Both Phantom and Peter were both surprised by what Tony had just stated, Peter asked how long, and when Tony stated forever, Phantom tried to fight for Peter. "No, no, no. Tony, this is my fault, you know it's my fault, don't go punishing the boy for my mistakes. C'mon, the world needs Spiderman, especially since…" Tony just looked at Peter who was also protesting to him and stated, "Let's have it." Peter tried to beg, "Please, this is all I have. I'm nothing without the suit." Tony stepped forward towards the begging boy and replied, "If you're nothing without this suit, then you shouldn't have it. Okay? God, I sound like my dad." Phantom tried to step forward, but Tony shot her a look that demanded that she not say anything and they'll talk about it later. Peter looked really conflicted and he tried to make his last argument, "I don't have any other clothes." Phantom just sadly shook her head at Peter and send to his head, "That's not going to do anything Peter." Tony told him that he would take care of that. Peter told him that Happy was going to be downstairs with his clothes to take him home, and then took off towards the Tower. Phantom looked at Peter's devastated expression; she took off her long trench coat, put it on his shoulders, and told him softly, "I'll go talk to him. I will do what I can. Just go home, get some rest, and see what happens." After she got no response from the distraught boy, she frowned sadly, and then took off towards the Tower after Tony, determined to make him change his mind.

When Phantom arrive to the Tower, she saw Tony with a cup of scotch in hand while he sat down on the couch and examined the Spiderman suit. She swung her scythe around and into the floor, much to Tony's dismay, and asked ferociously, "What the hell was that? 'If you're nothing without the suit, you shouldn't have it.' Who are you, Steve? Taking away the suit, you really that's going to stop the boy?" Tony didn't acknowledge her, which surprised Phantom, but she chose to continue, "You know this was my fault. I couldn't juggle being a mercenary, being an Avenger, a mentor, and a normal girl. I'm the one to blame, not Peter." Tony spoke quietly, "You warned him not to, yet he still disobeyed you. That's why I took his suit away. Plus if he's nothing without his suit, he shouldn't have it." Phantom feeling that was a valid argument, shot back, "BECAUSE I DIDN'T WATCH HIM AS THOROUGHLY AS I COULD! AND REALLY TONY, WHO WAS THE ONE WHO WENT INTO PANIC ATTACKS WITHOUT BEING WITHIN HIS SUIT YEARS AGO! I could have stopped him, and you know I could have. Punish me." Tony stood up and told her, "Oh, I plan to, but not in way you're thinking. I'm sending you away where you can learn to balance your abilities with your health. Plus he didn't kill anybody nor fight any aliens, like I did." Phantom went forward and tried to take the suit from Tony, who only kept it away from her, while she bargained, "THEN GIVE HIM THE SUIT BACK! He'll be a better hero than you and me. He's a kid, kids make mistakes, that's how they learn."

Tony threw the suit in the back of the room away from Phantom towards one of the Iron suits, while Tony stated, "NOT IF YOU DON'T PUNISH THEM! I know he'll be a better hero, but first he needs to the consequences to his actions. You failed to teach and punish him. You failed and that's why I am going to punish you. As for you, you're not going to teach him anymore because I'm not risking your life anymore." Phantom pushed herself forward to him and stated, "Tony, this isn't Ultron. This is a high school boy. My life is not in danger." Tony turned her towards the main glass TV, and showed the footage of the Washington Monument Elevator shaft when her body gave out and she fell. He paused it in the middle of the scene to show her bleeding out from her eyes, ears, and mouth, while he asked, "THEN WHAT HAPPENED HERE?! I TALKED TO FRIDAY AND SHE STATED THAT YOUR HEALTH REPORT STATED THAT YOUR HEART STOPPED FOR A SOLID TEN SECONDS WHILE YOUR BLOOD CELL COUNT DIMINISHED GREATLY! I ALSO KNOW THAT THIS ISN'T THE FIRST TIME THIS HAS HAPPENED!" Phantom just took a step back from Tony, because it was the first time that the man had ever yelled at her in anger. She went up and reminded him, "My health is none of your concern. Me dying: has nothing to do with Spiderman. Peter needs his suit back. The world needs a positive figure to show them that they're going to be okay, and he can't learn how to do that on his own, otherwise there'll be another Avengers Civil War." When Tony heard that, he shot back quietly, "Peter isn't Steve, Victoria." Phantom felt hurt by Tony stating that so she argued with tears coming out of her eyes, "And you're not my real dad. If you were you wouldn't have let my killer walk and replace me." As soon as Phantom stated that, she immediately saw the hurt on Tony's face and she wished she could have taken it back. Tony felt that the battle was lost talking to her, so he turned around, walked away while he stated, "I'll give Peter the suit back eventually. Just consider this my way of grounding him. As for you, I already submitted the paper work to transfer you out and to your new school. I also sent a pickup crew to gather your things. You'll be leaving immediately." Phantom felt her entire world, the life that she finally had and wanted, being taken away from her in a split second, so she yelled, "YOU CAN'T DO THAT! IF YOU SEND ME AWAY, I'LL JUST RUN AWAY FROM WHEREVER YOU SEND ME AND COME BACK HERE!" Tony just remained quiet at her threats, so feeling backed into a corner, Phantom pleaded, "Please, Tony. Just… one more week. I have to perform at Homecoming this week. I was even nominated for Homecoming Queen. Please? Just one more week to say my goodbyes?" Tony felt his heart break by the sound her pleading and crying, so he gave in, "Fine. One more week. After Friday, you leave to go to your school, no questions asked, and no fighting back." Phantom nodded her head at him and was about to fly out, until he yelled, "Take the Iron boots or a car. I don't want you flying anymore." Phantom nodded at him, grabbed her scythe, and flew out with the Iron boots that were on the table.

As soon as she made it back to the apartment, she heard the barking and growling of Cerberus coming from the living room, and when she walked in, she saw why. Cerberus had threatened and barked the mover men into her bedroom, so she told him to stand down while she was going to talk to the men. She told them that they would be moving her stuff out gradually and that everything was to be out by Friday, not that very day. They nodded at her and quickly ran out of the building to the still growling Cerberus. As soon as they left, Phantom went into her room, sat on the bed with Cerberus, and cried on her poor, out of the loop, wolf. After she got done crying, she went down the fire escape, to see Peter sitting on bed, probably waiting for her. She did a light knock on the window to get his attention, and when he opened it, she walked into and out of his room to talk to Aunt May while Peter followed her. Aunt May was already used to the way Phantom and Peter would use the fire escape to each other's apartments. She didn't approve of them being alone, but she knew that Phantom was good for Peter. Phantom asked, "Hey May, is it alright if Peter comes up to my apartment for the night? We have a huge test in chemistry tomorrow, and I need some help on some of the homework. Plus, I gotta talk to him about the Stark Internship." May looked at Peter for his feeling on the situation, and when she saw that he nodded at her, she nodded at Phantom and asked, "Sure that's fine. Have you eaten yet, honey? You look really tired." Phantom shook her head while replying, "No, but I was going to make some food upstairs. Thank you, though. Have a good night." With that, Phantom went out the way she came and went to her room to go change. She changed into Victoria Pink black shorts, and a black sports bra that she loved to sleep in.

She left her hair down, went to the kitchen, and made some hot chocolate for her and Peter. She put a little Rumchata in hers while she left Peter's a virgin and proceeded to make herself Kraft Mac and Cheese. When Peter finally arrived with his new backpack, a change of clothes for the morning, and bathing supplies. She told him to put his stuff in the guest bedroom, and sit down at the table while she finishes up. After she finished cooking, she made three bowls of the mac and cheese: one for her, one for Peter, and the final one for Cerberus along with a package of cooked hot dogs. As soon as she sat down, Peter tried to talk, but she raised her hand to silence him, and told him to eat his food, then they'll do their homework, and finally talk about what happened between her and Tony. Most of the evening consisted of silence, with the occasional polite questions about food and homework.

After they finished everything that Phantom wanted done, she led him to her bedroom, sat him down on her bed, and began, "First thing I wanna say is that whatever happened or happens, isn't completely your fault. I should have watched you more, and for that I apologize. Second: You will get the suit back… Eventually. Just not as soon as you would like. Tony wants you to take this time and consider your options as a normal teenager/person. There will be stricter rules with the suit when you get it back, so be careful. Third and finally: When you do get the suit back, I may not be the one mentoring you." Peter was really shocked when she stated that, and he stood up at her. She patted him to return to her side, and demanded, "Sit down, Peter." As soon as he did, she continued, "As of today, I only have until Homecoming Night to stay here. Tony is sending me to another school… permanently." Peter was about to stand up once again, until Phantom held him down by his hand. Peter looked at her face and saw through her eyes that she really didn't want to fight him, so he sat back down as she continued, "Tony thinks it is within your and my best interest that I go to another school. I WILL find you other people to keep training you while you don't have the suit to keep you in shape, but that's all. No herowork, understand?" Peter nodded his head at her and asked, "Did you try to explain that you shouldn't be punished for my mistakes?" Phantom shook her head and replied, "Actually, I did the exact opposite. I begged him to give you the suit back and to only punish me, but that's not why he's sending me away. He's had that planned for a bit now, in all actuality, he was ready to send me tonight, but I managed to bargain to Homecoming." She scooted close to Peter and leaned her head on his shoulder while she whispered with guilt in her voice, "I'm sorry." Peter put his arm around her shoulders and pulled her in closer to him. They stood that way for a moment, until Phantom led him to the top of the bed, and the two fell asleep together within each other's arms.

Phantom went with Peter to the principal's office to explain why Peter had to leave detention for something that had to do with the Stark Internship. She also handed him a formal letter that explained why she had to transfer, but she "forgot" to leave out that it was for health concerns. The principal gave Peter detention because neither Phantom, Happy, nor Tony called Peter in to get him out earlier, while he was sad that Phantom was going to be leaving their humble school. When they went out, Ned was waiting for them. He was asking if Peter got expelled and to go to some scary school with a principal that had a crossbow. Peter explained that he wasn't expelled but that Phantom was the one leaving. Ned asked why, which Phantom replied, "It's for my abilities. That's all I want to discuss on the matter." After that Ned chose not to continue to talk about it, because it seemed to have upset Phantom. As the week continued, Phantom and Peter continued it as if nothing happened. Phantom did announce that she was leaving to all of her "friends," who seemed very upset, while Peter served out his time within his classes and detention. Throughout the week, all of the boys consisted to ask Phantom to Homecoming, which she only rejected them. She only wanted to go with one of two people, but she doubted that she was going to go with either or.

In the middle of the week, Phantom walked with Liz after they helped with setting up for the dance and they ran into Peter, who was trying to apologize to Liz about skipping out on decathlon. Phantom chose to go ahead while she stated, "Um, Liz. I'm gonna wait ahead, okay? We still need to set up where the mics are gonna go for the big number." Liz nodded at her as Phantom walked into the gym. What they didn't know, was that Phantom left the door open slightly so that she could listen in to Peter and Liz's conversation. "Last week, decathlon was the most important thing, but then I almost died," Phantom heard Liz say. "No, I'm—I just mean that I'm… it was not cool, especially… because… I like you." As soon as Phantom heard Peter say that, she felt a barrage of punches hit her in her stomach while a giant knife was twisting around in her heart. She did her best to conceal the pain, as she continued to listen in to hear Liz say that she knew and that Peter was terrible at keeping secrets. Peter joked that she would be surprise, and Phantom continued to listen to hear Peter and Liz cutely plan to go to Homecoming together, until she couldn't take it anymore and she ran to the girl's changing room to final release her emotions. After Peter began to happily walk away, he felt a wave a negative emotions come towards the gym, and he was about to go to it until the principal stopped him and told him to go to class. Phantom proceeded to cry softly to herself as she felt her heart break for second time that week. She covered her mouth to keep herself from whimpering and kept her feet up to hide herself in the restroom stall, so that no one would come in and know that it was her. She hated for people to see her cry. It made her feel weak, an easy target. She believed that she was always to have a strong, proud, and brave face, so that meant no one could see her in any sort of pain.

After she cried to herself for a couple of minutes, she went to the sink, cleaned herself up, reapplied her makeup, and went out to the crew and band setting up. Liz waved at her and stated, "Okay, Phantom. We're ready whenever you are. Do you wanna do the solo number, or the group?" Phantom walked onto the stage and replied, "Let me do my solo first, okay? Andrew just went to the restroom and I don't want to rush him." The group smiled, nodded their head, and then the band set up their music for one of Phantom's solo slow dance numbers.

[He looks at me

I fake a smile so he won't see

What I want and I need

And everything that we should be

I know she's beautiful

That girl he talks about

And she's got everything

That I have to live without

He talks to me

I laugh 'cause it's so damn funny

But I can't even see

Anyone when he's with me

He says he's so in love

He's finally got it right

I wonder if he knows

He's all I think about at night

He's the reason for the teardrops on my guitar

The only thing that keeps me wishing on a wishing star

He's the song in the car I keep singing

Don't know why I do

He walks by me

Can he tell that I can't breathe?

And there he goes, so perfectly

The kind of flawless I wish I could be]

Phantom locked eyes with Liz as she preserved to send her message to Liz that she was singing about Peter.

[She better hold him tight

Give him all her love

Look in his beautiful eyes

And know she's lucky 'cause

He's the reason for the teardrops on my guitar

The only thing that keeps me wishing on a wishing star

He's the song in the car I keep singing

Don't know why I do

So I drive home alone

As I turn out the light

I'll put his picture down

And maybe get some sleep tonight

'Cuz he's the reason for the teardrops on my guitar

The only one who's got enough of me to break my heart

He's the song in the car I keep singing

Don't know why I do

He's the time taken up but there's never enough

And he's all that I need to fall into

Drew looks at me

I fake a smile so he won't see]

After she finished singing, she saw that Liz was walking out of the gym, and she felt bad, but she also knew that Liz preferred to left alone. Phantom decided to change her final solo slow dance piece. It was a very last minute decision, but she told them that it would have made her feel better. Phantom sat down as they finalize the piece:

[Hoping that you might notice me

As you look the other way

I'm afraid to see what could be

In the line of your gaze

My tender heart and quivering chest

So alone and unadorned

Why can't I be the one

Just tell me how

My heart is yours don't you see

I'll wait a countless sum of day

Forever if that's what it takes

How can I charm your heart and take your breath away

Your smiling face

Left with no trace

I'm blinded through bitter tears

So I stand alone, so I stand alone

Why, oh why, can't you see

I looked at you and turned away

And wiped all the tears off my face

I'm alone again

With all this pain

Of being left all alone

My heart is torn

And my grief is born

In the depths of my heart

Only you were the cure

But I'm not sure

My heart will be whole once more

I'll wait a countless sum of day

If that's what I have to do

I'll take these wine of mine

And fly to you

That only me

Love you most in this world

So I stand alone

So I stand alone

Why of why can't you see

I'll wait a countless sum of day

Forever if that's what it takes

How can I charm your heart and take your breath away

Your smiling face left with no trace

I'm blinded through bitter tears

So I stand alone

So I stand alone

Why oh why can't you see

So I stand alone

So I stand alone

Why oh why can't you see]

After they finished, everyone turned to see Phantom just looking down at the ground. She told them that they did a great job in a monotone voice, collected her things, told everyone she would see them after school, and then she left to go to her last musical theater class. When she went, her musical theater teacher made her sing an aria that consisted of two contrasting characters, but sung by the same singer. Her teacher told her to think about how she thought the night was going to be like last week, and how she thinks of the night currently:

[(Author's Note: I'm going to put the two contrasting characters voice for this aria together. "C" is going to be the current thoughts of the night, and "P" is going to be the previous thoughts of the night. P is going to more nasal and sinister with lots of belting, while C is going to be light/airy and remorseful with her being within her head voice.)

P: This day is going perfect

The kind of day of which I dreamed since I was small

Everybody would gather round

Say that I looked lovely my gown

What they don't know is that I have fooled them all

C: This day was going to be perfect

The kind of day of which I dreamed since I was small

But instead of having cake

With all my friends to celebrate

My hearts wings may not flutter at all

P: I could care less about the dress

I won't partake in any cake

Vows, well I'll lying when say

That through any kind of weather

I'll want us to be together

The truth is I don't care for him at all

No I cannot love this bloom

In my heart there is no room

But I still want him to be all mine

C: I must escape before its too late

Find a way to save the day

Hope, I'll lying when I say

I don't fear that I may lose him

To one who wants use him

Not care for, love, and cherish him each day

For I oh so love this bloom

All my heart he does consume

Oh, my dear Peter, I'm leaving very soon

P: Finally the time has arrived,

For me to put my love aside

C: Oh, the day I won't make

He'll end up becoming a fake

Oh Peter I'll be…

C/P: Gone… all gone]

After she finished, her musical theater instructor, Ms. Waters, nodded at her and stated, "That was lovely Phantom. It was good to hear you sing that. Hopefully singing that cleared up your mind. I hope that your next school will help you develop and thrive emotionally and physically." Phantom nodded at her instructor and responded, "Thanks. It's good to hear that. I'm gonna come back and visit eventually. So, I guess I'm saying that, this isn't goodbye, but rather, see you later." Phantom really enjoyed her teachers. Especially Ms. Waters and Ms. Nelson. They both sassed her, they gave her lots of personal advice, even when it wasn't age appropriate, and they would often share treats with each other. She really didn't want to leave, but Phantom knew that she had to finalize the rehearsal before the big homecoming dance that night.

After their hour-long rehearsal, Peter came in at his usual time to see Phantom and the band setting up the group slow dance piece with Andrew and the others since they didn't do it while they were in the gym during fifth period. As soon as she saw Peter, she told him to sit down as they did final run threw of their piece:

{[Andrew:]

I'm wide awake

Yeah, I was in the dark

I was falling hard

With an open heart

I'm wide awake

How did I read the stars so wrong?

[Tina:]

I'm wide awake

And now it's clear to me

That everything you see

Ain't always what it seems

I'm wide awake

Yeah, I was dreaming for so long

[Phantom and Andrew:]

I wish I knew then

What I know now

Wouldn't dive in

Wouldn't bow down

Gravity hurts

You made it so sweet

Till I woke up on

On the concrete

[Phantom:]

Falling from cloud nine ([Andrew:] Falling and)

Crashing from the high ([Andrew:] From high)

[Phantom and Tina:]

I'm letting go tonight

([Phantom:] Yeah, I'm) falling from cloud nine

[Tina (with Andrew):]

(I'm wide awake)

Not losing any sleep

I picked up every piece

And landed on my feet

(I'm wide awake)

Need nothing to complete myself (No...)

Oh

[Phantom:]

I'm wide awake

Yeah, I am born again

Out of the lion's den

I don't have to pretend

And it's too late

The story's over now, the end, yeah

[Tina and Phantom:]

I wish I knew then

What I know now

Wouldn't dive in

Wouldn't bow down

Gravity hurts

You made it so sweet

Till I woke up on

On the concrete

[Phantom and Tina:]

Falling from cloud nine ([Andrew:] It was out of the blue, I)

Crashing from the high

I'm letting go tonight ([Andrew:] Yeah, I'm ready to go, I)

Yeah, I'm falling from cloud nine

[Andrew and Tina:]

I'm wide awake! ([Phantom:] Thunder rumbling)

I'm wide awake! ([Phantom:] Castles crumbling)

I'm wide awake! ([Tina:] I am trying to)

Hold on

[Andrew and Tina:]

I'm wide awake! ([Phantom:] God knows that I've tried)

[Andrew, and Tina:]

I'm wide awake! ([Phantom:] Seeing the bright side)

[Phantom (with Andrew):]

But I'm not (blind anymore)

[Andrew and Tina:]

I'm wide awake!

[Tina:]

I'm falling from cloud nine ([Phantom:] It was out the blue, I)

[Andrew and Tina:]

Crashing from the high

[Tina and Andrew:]

You know I'm letting go tonight ([Phantom:] Yeah, I'm ready to go, I)

[Andrew and Tina:]

I'm falling from cloud nine

[Andrew, Phantom, and Tina:]

I'm wide awake}

After that song, Phantom looked up to see tears forming in Peter's eyes. She knew that he knew that she was upset about leaving school and the life that she created in New York City. What Peter didn't know was that Phantom believed that this was her final day living the closest thing to her dream life. She had her best friend, she had a father figure, she had a great paying job, and she got to do the activities that she used to do, such as performing. Phantom jumped down from the stage, told everyone that the performance that night was going to be great, grabbed her bag, and then went over to Peter. She wiped away a tear from Peter's face and told him, "Don't cry Peter. It and I'll be okay. Now, let's head home so that we can get around for Homecoming." Peter smiled, nodded at her, and then they walked home together.

As soon as they arrived, Peter immediately looked around to see what all he had for dressing up and tried to see if he needed anything else. While Peter was setting himself up for the dance, Phantom already had her gown ready, along with her outfit, jewelry, and makeup chosen, set up her keyboard, a recording device, and a connection to a signal that would be sent to Natasha, who would give the message to the one person she wanted to receive it. "Hello, you know who this is. I have a dance happening tonight at 7 pm, but I believe that I won't be there until 8:30 pm to 9 pm. I really want you there, and I know that with all that happen, it wouldn't be the wisest thing, but I do want you there, and… I need you." After she stated that, she hesitated to play the piano, but as soon as she felt the piano keys, her playing skills naturally came back as she began to play:

[Yesterday, all my troubles seemed so far away

Now it looks as though they're here to stay

Oh, I believe in yesterday

Suddenly, I'm not half the girl I used to be

There's a shadow hanging over me.

Oh, yesterday came suddenly

Why he had to go I don't know, he wouldn't say

I said something wrong, now I long for yesterday

Hey-Ye-Ye-Yesterday, love was such an easy game to play

Now I need a place to hide away

Oh, I believe in yesterday

Why he had to go I don't know, he wouldn't say

I said something wrong, now I long for yesterday

Hey-Ye-Oh-Yesterday, love was such an easy game to play

Now I need a place to hide away

Oh, I believe in yesterday

Oo, oo, oo, oo]

Phantom kept the signal going like a radio as she began to play sad Glee music as she got around for her Homecoming dance while she sang along. She put on her a tight white shorts under her dress along with wrapping her breast and strapping on some weaponry on her thighs, because, well… you never know. She also had some knives in her bra that was over her wrapped breast and two guns strapped to her ankles over her blush colored pumps that were bedazzled around the ankle strap, the lining of the shoe, and on the heel. After she felt herself strapped up, she put on her blush colored dress that had a sweetheart neckline with a sheer connection with a collar and beading along her midriff to the top of the collar. She put on her moonstone earrings that Peter got a couple of months prior after the night of her performances and a necklace that she bought from Etsy that also had a moonstone as the pendant. It looked very vintage princess style necklace that kinda clashed with her dress and earrings, but she liked it, so she really didn't car. She also had a cuff bracelet with a giant moonstone at the center of it that matched her bracelet, and underneath it, she hid several tiny throwing needles that were laced with a sedating poison. She put a bump in her hair where she stored some of throwing knives, while she put some braids to the back of her head around her and around her bump. She finished off her hair by adding curls in her hair. Phantom put on a decent amount of makeup on her full face, rather than on haft as she usually does, with a blush to dark eyeshadow accented with cat eyes and fake lashes and pink lipstick. After she did that, she forgot to stop her radio signal, and saw the movers beginning to move the last of her stuff. Cerberus was picked up by Happy earlier in the day, and he was driven to the new Avengers Facility, where she would go pick him up tomorrow when she goes to her new school. She told the men to be careful with her stuff, weapons go with her tomorrow, bed stays the night along with the outfits on the bed, and so does the food.

After she gave her orders, she grabbed her clutch that had a small handheld gun inside, her cellphone, and then she left to Peter's apartment through the fire escape. She went through the window and when she saw that no one was there, she went to the living room. She saw that Peter and May were watching a video about how to tie a tie. She walked up while Peter finished tying his tie, and he turned to May to show her his proud achievement. Phantom giggled at his antics and stated, "Wow, Peter can now tie a tie. Although…" As soon as she approached him, she tightened his tie and straightened it out while proclaiming, "It still isn't on properly nor straight. Also your collar is typically over the tie." As she straightened it, Peter got a full look at Phantom. Her makeup was perfect, and she looked like she was glowing from the top of her head to the bottom of her dress. It was almost as if she was his angel sent to earth to guide him. She glanced up after she finished, gave a big enough smile that it showed through her mask, and they made a psychic connection. "You looked incredibly handsome tonight, Spidey," Phantom told him through his mind. He blushed at her statement and replied through her mind, "Thanks, and you look incredibly gorgeous." Her smile grew bigger as she concealed her own blush through her mask.

May saw the quiet connection between the two, and felt that it was awkward, so she coughed outloud to gain the two teen attentions. They both looked at her together, and she asked, "Do either of you know how to dance?" Phantom nodded while Peter shook his head. Phantom pulled herself away, because she felt that she was over-stepping her bounds and relationship with Peter. She told May, "Why don't you teach him how to dance for the fun and upbeat music and I'll teach him how to slow dance, okay?" Phantom sat down and watched as May taught Peter how to dance to upbeat music. When she saw how awkward Peter danced to the music, Phantom tried her absolute best to conceal her giggles at Peter's awkwardness.

After Aunt felt that he had enough practice improv dancing, she turned to Phantom and asked, "Are you still good to teach him how to slow dance?" Phantom smiled, nodded her head, rose from her seat, went to her speaker, plugged in her cellphone, and told May to put on "Without Question" by Elton John when she gave her signal. Phantom went over to Peter, led his hands to her hips, as she put her arms around his neck, pulled him in close, but not as close as she actually wanted, and nodded at Aunt May to start the music. As soon as she did, the music started and Phantom led him as they did light steps, left, up, right , down, all while they very slowly span. When the lyrics started, she began to sing along,

[The more I learn, the more I see

The less the world impassions me

The hungry heart, the roving eye

Have come to rest, do not apply

The frantic chase, the crazy ride

The thrill has gone, I step aside]

Phantom looked deeply into Peter's eyes, and decided to proclaim her feelings to the young boy as they danced together by deeply singing:

[And I'd believe in anything were it not for you

Showing me by just existing only this is true

I love you, I love you without question, I love you

The more I want the more I steal

The more I hold the less is real

All worldly things I follow blind

In hope not faith was paid in kind

The line is drawn, the change is made

I come to you, I'm not afraid

And I'd believe in anything were it not for you

Showing me by just existing only this is true

I love you, I love you without question, I love you

I'd believe in anything were it not for you

Showing me by just existing only this is true

I love you, I love you without question, I love you]

After the song ended, without leaving Peter's eyes, Phantom told May, "Would you mind playing 'Friends Never Say Goodbye,' please, Aunt May?" May already knew the song very well, due to being an Elton John fan, and knew that Phantom wanted to show Peter that tonight wasn't their last night together and that they would meet again, so she decided to oblige to the young mercenary's request and put on the song as Phantom pulled herself in closer to Peter. She put her head on his shoulder as they danced slower. Phantom held Peter closer as Peter held her tight as they slowed dance:

[There isn't much I haven't shared

With you along the road

And through it all there'd always be

Tomorrow's episode

Suddenly that isn't true

There's another avenue

Beckoning the great divide

Ask no questions, take no side

Who's to say who's right or wrong

Whose course is braver run

Still we are, have always been

Will ever be as one

What is done has been done for the best

Though the mist in my eyes might suggest

Just a little confusion about what I'll lose

But if I started over I know I would choose

The same joy the same sadness each step of the way

That fought me and taught me that friends never say

Never say goodbye

Never say goodbye

Never say goodbye

Friends never say goodbye]

The two teens then stopped dancing and just held each other as tightly as they could. Phantom gripped tightly onto Peter's jacket and Peter kept one hand around her waist while holding on from the back of her head, all while Phantom was trying her hardest not to cry at the situation before her while she continued to sing:

[Suddenly that isn't true

There's another avenue

Beckoning, the great divide

I would choose

The same joy the same sadness each step of the way

That fought me and taught me that friends never say

Never say goodbye

Never say goodbye

Never say goodbye

Friends never say goodbye]

After the song ended, the two teens kept their position, until Phantom realized the time, so she let go, forced herself to bottle down her emotions like she usually did and put on her brave face. After she pulled away, she looked into Peter's eyes, and asked, "You ready to go pick up Liz?" Peter was surprised at the pained look that was within her eyes, but he recovered quickly when she asked about Liz and only nodded his head and chose to talk to her about her feelings at the dance when they weren't on the clock. May handed Phantom a light pink corsage for the dance stating that she should have it from Peter since she didn't have a date. She thanked May and then May took the two teens to Liz house.

As soon as May pulled up, she asked Peter, "It's game day. So, what's the plan?" Peter reclaimed what all May told him to do and say while he was on his date with Liz while Phantom jumped out of the car and smoothed out her hair and dress. After Peter jumped out, he told May that he loved her, and then the two teens walked up to Liz's house together. The whole way there, Phantom was consoling Peter by telling him to calm down, that he had tonight, and that this was going to be a night he would always remember. When they reached the door, Phantom pushed the doorbell, and Peter's moment of nervous confidence was cut short by the one face that he didn't expect to see: the main weapon's dealer. Phantom, who didn't know who the man was nor that he was a criminal, kept smiling while all the color drained from Peter's face. Phantom saw that the man was being nice to Peter, while he ignored Phantom's presence all together, which put her off. The man shook Peter's hand and Phantom's, and that's when she noticed his unnecessary grip of her hand. The man walked them into the house, and when he got ahead, Phantom noticed that Peter was dragging his feet, so she held his hand while the man didn't notice, and sent a thought into his mind, "What's up? What's wrong?" Peter immediately thought to her, "That's Vulture. That's the weapon distributor." Phantom heard footsteps coming, so she immediately let go of his hand as Liz's mom came in. She greeted Peter, and hugged Phantom while saying, "Hello, Phantom. I haven't seen you since Liz's slumber party. When I heard that you were leaving, Liz and I were deeply saddened to hear it. When you come back, make sure you come visit us, okay?" Phantom smiled at the woman, played along, and replied, "Absolutely. I'll let you guys know when I'm going to visit."

The woman went to go get Liz as Phantom and Peter stood in the kitchen with Liz's father. The man noticed Peter's expression, so he asked if he was alright. Phantom gently grazed his hand and commanded within his head, "Put up a front." Peter abided to her and played it off to the man. When the man asked them if they wanted a drink, Peter told him that he isn't of age, while Phantom responded, "Yeah, I'll take one, but I'll make it myself." Phantom grabbed a glass, made a small portion, and then down it as the two men admired Liz in her dress. When Liz came to Peter's side, she asked if that was a corsage in Peter's hand, he just handed it to her as he kept his look to her father. The man told him that he was going to be their chauffer, and that he wanted to get the show on the road, but Liz's mom wanted to take pictures of the three. Phantom politely declined, poured herself another glass, and stated, "I'm not photogenic. Let the happy couple take some pictures." While they took their pictures, Phantom drank the rest of her glass of scotch. Peter tried to plea to the man that he didn't have to escort them, but when he stated that he was going to go out of town and that it was going to be last one, that's when Phantom knew that he was going to make his biggest drop.

Phantom sat in the front seat, while Peter and Liz sat within the back seat. Phantom let down the wall of her mind, and stated into Peter's head without touching him, "Peter, I'm placing a tracker within this car along with one onto his jacket secretly." Phantom went into her bag, pulled out a handheld mirror, along with a tracker. She made up the appearance that she was checking herself out, and after she finished, as she slipped her mirror back into her bag, she let the tiny tracker fall down the side and underneath her seat without making a sound. While the man continued to drive, he asked Peter what he was going to do with his life, and Liz was inadvertently giving up Peter's secret identity. While she did that, Peter heard Phantom thinking while she wasn't breathing, "OH MY GOD LIZ! Liz, shut up, shut up, shut up, SHUT UP!" As soon as Phantom heard, "Good o' Spiderman" come from the sinister man's lips, she knew the gig was up.

When the man pulled up to the high school, all three of the teens were about to jump out, when Liz's dad stated, "You head in there, gumdrop. I'm gonna give Peter the 'dad' talk." As soon as Phantom heard that, she knew what was going to happen, so she stepped out of the car, and stated, "I'm gonna grab a smoke before I head in, Liz. You go ahead, I'll meet up with you too." As soon as Phantom stated that, she shut the car door and went up to the gate, pulled out a pack of cigarettes, lit one, and made it look like she was just smoking while she watched Peter and Liz's dad. As soon as Liz got out, Phantom saw the man draw a gun, and since she knew that no one could see her, she pulled out hers from her clutch and aimed it towards the man. Phantom listened in from her tracker and when she heard the man say that nothing was more important than family, she got an idea. She told Friday to hack into the man's car, and when Friday did, Phantom stated through the man's radio that she hacked into, "You shoot him, I. shoot. Her." Peter and the man both immediately looked over to Phantom, who had her gun pointed Liz. Peter noticed that Phantom's azure eye was very dulled out nearly to indigo and saw that she really wasn't playing. Phantom saw Peter and the man's fear within their eyes and Phantom continued, "I'm a mercenary, Mr. Allen. I really don't give a damn on who lives or who dies. My job is the only thing I care about and my job now: is to keep the kid safe, so you threatening him, is inadvertently threatening me. Choice is yours: put the gun away, or I shoot. I don't care. I won't even stop here. You keep me from getting paid: I will… I promise you, you will pay. Your wife, your house, your business: all will disappear. I got enough mercenary pals and ex-colleagues that I can call. I also got enough bombs in that school to make it look like you and your men did it and trust me: the government would rather believe me: an Avenger, than a man who illegally sells weapons to criminals. So, what's it gonna be: they both live, or you all die?" Peter saw a side to Phantom that he never thought that she possessed: a remorseless killer. Phantom cocked her gun, raised her eyebrow, and immediately began to count: "5… 4… 3… 2…" Both of the men saw her finger twitched, so he threw the gun down while yelling, "OKAY, OKAY! PUT YOUR GUN DOWN!" They saw Phantom's smirk through her mask, and put the safety on the gun, and put it away, while she motioned for Peter to get out of the car.

As soon as he did, the man took off and Phantom walked to him. She put her hand on his shoulder and asked, "You alright?" Peter slapped her hand away and asked silently, "What the hell was that? You would kill Liz and the entire school, and for what? Just cause you didn't get paid?" Phantom immeditately replied, "No. The bomb threat was a lie. As for threatening to kill Liz: a bluff. Did I want to threaten him that way? No, but I had no choice. Your life was in danger and I took action. That's what I do. That's a job of an Avenger. Now come on. We got Avenging to do." Phantom went ahead of him to get to her secret weapon stash behind her locker, she pulled out her scythe, while Peter apologized to Liz. While she ran ahead, she stated, "PETER, I'M GONNA HEAD TO THE TOWER TO GUARD THE PLANE! YOU GO FOR THE HIDEOUT!" Phantom ran out to the front of the parking lot, got enough, distance, and took off to go flying to the Tower.

When she arrived, she saw Happy getting ready for the takeoff. When Happy saw her, he whistled and asked, "Shouldn't you be at the dance?" She pushed past him and replied, "change of plans. I'm watching this flight. You call Tony, I'll tell him you have feelings for Pepper." Happy kept his mouth shut after that as the young mercenary hopped into the plane and went into the cock pit. As soon as she got comfy, she called Ned, who was in the middle of receiving his punishment, "Ned, where's Peter?" Ned quietly told her that Peter was at the hideout, so she hung up and chose to see the flight through, just incase Peter couldn't succeed.

She waited and waited until after the plane took off. She felt the plane shake after mid-flight. She asked Friday what happened, but Friday stated that she couldn't get a reading about what happened to the plane. Phantom immediately went to the door, but fought to open it profoundly. It wasn't until the door was pulled open by the Vulture. As soon as he saw her, they both engaged into a fight. Vulture used an anti-gravity sphere that condensed which caused Phantom to rise and forced her against the ceiling. She struggled and fought to get herself out of the clutches of the antigravity pressure, but no matter how much she fought or used her abilities, she couldn't get down. "HEY ALLEN! HOW EXACTLY DO YOU THINK THIS WILL END?! I AM AN AVENGER AND NOW YOUR HOSTAGE! THIS MEANS YOU ARE TAKING A FEDERAL AGENT HOSTAGE, WHICH IS A FEDERAL FELONY! YOU WANT MAKE IT OUT OF THIS ALIVE AND FREE, IT'S A SINGLE DECISION!" Vulture looked at her and stated, "You won't make it out of here alive. After this plane lands, that the end of my criminal career and your life." Phantom kept quiet and thought about her situations as she watched Vulture grab all of his future merchandise, along with several of her own weapons. After a moment, the calm still wind changed into a vacuum to the outside of the left side of the plane. Phantom watched Vulture go over to the security camera that was on that side of the plane, and when he came back, she saw that he looked angry. Phantom, wanting to test the waters, asked, "Problem?" He glared at her and replied, "That damn Parker showed up." Vulture grabbed his equipment, and flew out of the plane, leaving Phantom to continue to struggle to get out of the gravity's grip.

Phantom deeply listened in to what was going on outside, and she heard the two engines outside of the right side of the plane break. She then heard the back engine begin to crackle and she felt the descendance of the plane. She struggled even more, and when she realized that she had no choice, she used her abilities so get the fire from the outside to go to the outside of the gravitational pull, transcended it to electric bolts, and hit it to the sphere. After she did that, she fell to the floor, she felt her heart begin to beat its irregular heartbeat when she overuses her abilities. Phantom ran out to the opening, used some of her rope to tie it to the side bar of the plane, and threw it out. Peter saw the line, so he webbed the left side of the plane, grabbed Phantom's line, and Phantom pulled him inside. Phantom told him to pull as she piloted it out of the way of Coney Island. Phantom ran to the cockpit, saw the everything was suppose to be automatic, so she found where the wheel was suppose to be and she stuck her scythe into it to create a wheel as she yelled, "DAMMIT TONY! NOT EVERYTHING NEEDS TO BE AUTOMATIC!" She pulled the wheel to make the plane go right as hard as she could while yelling at Peter to pull.

Once the plane was at the spot that it was going to head towards the water, Phantom ran out of the cockpit, got to Peter, checked to make sure that he was okay, and when she did, she noticed that Vulture was still trying to get away with something and opened up another hole of the plane. Phantom feeling that the plane might explode asked, "FRIDAY, I NEED STATISTICS ON SURVIVAL RATE FOR ME AND PETER, NOW!" Friday ran her diagnostic and replied, "Survival rate for both you and Peter is at a 21% as of now." Phantom thought of all of her options and asked, "Friday, survival rate for Peter if I push him out of the plane, now." Friday told her that Peter's survival rate was at 27%, so Phantom believe that he would still die at that rate, and she didn't want to risk it. Phantom looked at the holes of the ship and noticed that that in a nearly perfect alignment, so she asked, "Friday, probability if I cut the plane in haft to get rid of the explosives and then send Peter down with an artificial parachute." Friday was silent until she replied, "Your survival rate would be…" Phantom didn't let her finish and she asked, "Peter's survival rate." Friday responded, "Peter's survival rate would increase to 81% with an artificial parachute. Phantom used her scythe to cut the skirt of her dress, she ran to one of the boxes that she knew contained the fiber lining of Tony's suit to give it some cushion. Phantom told Peter to web her skirt and the fiber lining fabric together, and to make a connector for him to hold on to. Peter tried to ask her to make two, but she refused to listen to his plea. Phantom went to where the holes were, put her scythe on the top hole and pulled with all of her might to cut the plane in haft.

Phantom used her abilities to hold her down to the plane while Peter used his spidey abililties to stick him to the plane. Phantom looked at Peter, pulled her mask down, bit her lip to draw blood, quickly pulled Peter's mask up, and kissed him. Peter was stunned when she did that, but winced in pain when she bit his lip to draw a little blood. Phantom connected the blood wounds of her and Peter, and she sent him every fiber of her mind: her feelings, her thoughts, and her memories. Peter saw them all in one go and Phantom saw his. After Phantom pulled away, she saw that Peter was in a complete gaze, so she pulled him in close, and whispered in his ear, "You keep being the good hero, Tig-… Peter." She lightly kissed his lips once again, let him go, and allowed him to fall with his attached parachute. Peter regained his consciousness as he fell through the sky, he looked up to see the woman that he just realized had deep feelings for him with love and regret within her eyes and a sad smile on her face. He noticed that both of her eyes were completely azure, and that she mouthed to him, "I love you." She turned to head towards the cockpit, Peter reached up towards her, and he yelled out of desperation and fear of her dying, "VICTORIA!" Phantom let a lone tear fall down her face as she kept walking.

When she got to the cockpit, she used her aeros abilities to manipulate the trajectory of the plane to the ocean. Phantom began to run to the hole of the plane, when finally her heartbeat began to fade once again while her vision blurred and ears clogged to only hear a light ring. She fell to the floor while she clutched onto her chest. She felt that she couldn't breathe, see, or hear. Phantom rolled herself to where she believed the hole of the plane was. When she finally reached the edge of the plane, the final turbine in the front of the plane exploded, which led Phantom to fall into the water while the flames scorched her while the impact broke her right leg and arm. She fell into the water and the initial sting of cold water sent a shot of electricity throughout her body, which was enough to spark in her heart to go back to its irregular heartrate. She felt as though she had enough energy to get herself to the surface, but when she tried to use her abilities since her bones were broke, her heart faded once again. She only submitted to her fate and allowed her beat to slow down and fall into the abyss of the water.

Phantom's School Outfit: pin/552887291731419581/

Phantom's Assassination Outfit: pin/AacQRbO5jf2l6_g1WU4qCUmy93EQ8FI8fxmu6IA57iArsJvxdEW9ZAI/

Anastasia's Mercenary outfit: pin/662521795156778391/

Phantom's Outfit while she worked with Sunny: pin/555913147749762475/

Lyrics: MarcelineVampire Wattpad

Homecoming Dress: pin/657807089296537922/

Homecoming Heels: pin/50806302026045724/

Homecoming Necklace: pin/AUcrB_1quuF987pw5mmOvxSM7IrVqY5ze_1EgeTYYIrPD80Nb5rFVA8/

Homecoming Makeup: pin/AcbL_JsrHhPZMuXkGsUrlU4qree4Xs8q4rPSr17QVAoHBlOpjLyz6iM/


	13. Falling Back to Black

QUICK AUTHOR'S NOTE! Phantom will be going through some emotional trauma and if it is triggering to you, please talk to someone. Feel free to email me if you feel troubled, or feel free to call the Suicide Hotline if any of this is triggering to you: 1-800-273-8255. ENJOY THE STORY!

* * *

When she got to the cockpit, she used her aeros abilities to manipulate the trajectory of the plane to the ocean. Phantom began to run to the hole of the plane, when finally her heartbeat began to fade once again while her vision blurred and ears clogged to only hear a light ring. She fell to the floor while she clutched onto her chest. She felt that she couldn't breathe, see, or hear. Phantom rolled herself to where she believed the hole of the plane was. When she finally reached the edge of the plane, the final turbine in the front of the plane exploded, which led Phantom to fall into the water while the flames scorched her while the impact broke her right leg and arm. She fell into the water and the initial sting of cold water sent a shot of electricity throughout her body, which was enough to spark in her heart to go back to its irregular heartrate. She felt as though she had enough energy to get herself to the surface, but when she tried to use her abilities since her bones were broke, her heart faded once again. She only submitted to her fate and allowed her heartbeat to slow down and fall into the abyss of the water.

* * *

After Peter changed into his civilian clothing and ran along the shoreline to try to find any trace of Phantom or the front of the plane. At one point, he called the ambulance to try to get people to find her. It wasn't until Peter found a piece of dirty cloth from her dress on the shoreline that he knew that she fell into the water. He tried to call Happy and Tony, but no one would answer the phone. It made him worry more and more by the minute. He ran across the shoreline for about five hours, until May came after him, ran up to him, and tried to get him to go with her. "Peter, Peter. It's late, we should go home," May tried to explain to Peter. Peter only ran out of her grasp apprehensively while replying, "NO! She's still out in the water. She saved the day and me more times than one. I have to- no I NEED to save her!" Peter ran and ran, even when tears began to stream down his face when he believed that his worst fear for Phantom was realized. After May realized that Peter was mentally destroying himself over Phantom, she grabbed him when he was trying to run past her, and held him as hard as she could when he strained and struggled against her embrace. Peter spout incoherent words and phrases that had the same meaning, but seemed unable to understand. May allowed him to sputter out his messaged as she hushed, shushed, and held him as tightly as she could. It took only a couple of seconds, but within those seconds, both May and Peter fought against the thought of Phantom's demise. May was the first to accept the tremendous belief, while Peter tried to fight against it with all of his being. May had tears streaming down her face from seeing her beloved Peter suffering over another loss of a person so dear to him. Peter didn't wish to accept the fact that Phantom was gone, but it slowly came to him while he was within May's arms. When the concept came to him, he lost all of his strength and fell into May's form crying and begging for it to not be true.

A bit far from where the scene took place, a couple hours beforehand, a lone figure walked out of the water with a collapsed form in their arms. As soon as he could, he began to run out of the water to the black BMW M6. His colleagues hopped out of the car when they saw the collapsed figure and ran to the shoreline to assist him. "What happened?" Natasha asked while Steve ran up to them. "I don't know. I saw her fall from the plane before it crashed and went into the water. I went in after her on a hunch, and then I saw that she wasn't coming to the surface on her own, so I went down after her. She's unconscious, and judging by her form, she's got a broken leg and arm on her right side." Natasha began to examine her, and when she noticed a huge problem, she stated, "There's no pulse. She's not breathing." Everyone saw the fear immediately grow within Steve's eyes, so he proceeded to give her CPR, as Natasha ran to the car to grab her electric stingers. Steve ordered Sam to take off Phantom's mask as he proceeded to pump her chest to get the water out of Phantom's lungs. As soon as Sam unbuckled it and lift it up, Steve breathed into Phantom's mouth to try to clear her air canal. Natasha returned, ripped open Phantom's dress, told everyone to stand clear, and sent voltage into Phantom to try to restart her heart. After that, Steve proceeded to CPR, and after that, Natasha sent the volts once again. Steve listened and as soon as he heard Phantom's heart beating a double, then a pause, then another double, to only continue its cycle. Steve listened once again, to see if she was breathing, but when he didn't see or hear her breath, he began CPR once again. After a moment of doing that, water shot out of Phantom's mouth, and she collapsed to her unconscious form. Steve observed her for a couple of moments so that he could assure himself that Phantom could breathe on her own. When he found that she could, he sighed out of relief. Steve looked at Wanda and requested, "Wanda, can you heal her bones?" Wanda only nodded and proceeded to use her abilities to align the bones, and then manipulate the cells to work at full capacity to repair the bones, muscles, and nerves to attach everything.

After Wanda finished, Steve gently lifted Phantom and put her into the passenger seat. He took the precautions to restrain her by her feet, then her wrists, blindfolding her eyes, and putting earplugs in her ears. When he finished, he put her hair down, put a neck pillow on her, and gently kissed her forehead to show his assurance and symbolize his apology. Steve turned to the others, nodded his head, and everyone got into the car. Natasha told them that as an extra precaution, to only text on the burner cells to each other so that Phantom wouldn't know who took her. Natasha sat directly behind Phantom, Sam sat behind the driver's seat, while Wanda sat in the middle of the back seat. Steve got into the driver's seat and began to drive them to the one destination that he thought would make sure that she would be safe and get the help that she desperately needed. The place where Tony wanted to originally to send her: Xavier Academy for the Gifted and Enhanced.

* * *

With only twenty minutes to spare of the drive, Phantom awoken from her sleep, only to find herself blindfolded, deafened, and cuffed from her wrist and ankles. Phantom felt around slowly and discreetly to analyze her situation and to find which exact enemy would have taken her. Judging by the restraints, they were strong metallic with some type of cushioning to make it easier on her. She felt that she had on a neck pillow to support her head and neck. She also felt some type of heavy material on her body that felt like either a comforter or a heavy coat. Judging by the extensive measure to make her comfortable, she knew that it was someone she knew and someone who cared for her, but didn't trust her. She used her aeros abilities to puncture a small hole in the earplugs, so that she hear better. She didn't hear anyone speaking, but only the pitter patter of typing on cellphones. Judging by the different patterns, there were three people typing. While she listened, she felt two presences trying to push into her head, so she pushed them both away. One of the typing patterns went into a fidgeting mess into typing faster, and then the others followed suit. She knew that they knew that she was awake. She waited for her capturers to identify themselves like the idiotic way villains did, because they believed that they won the fight. When she heard nothing, she deeply inhaled through her nose to get the faint scents. The first was an incredibly faint hint of tiger lily, the second was the over usage of Old Spice, the smell of an old Russian restaurant and the final one smelled of Bath and Body Works Man Soap, with a Dell Bar Soap undertone. She knew exactly whom the people were, so she decided to ask, "So, where are we going?" Nobody answered her and they all sat in silence, so she asked with more force, "Where are we going, Rogers?" She heard the driver grip down on the steering wheel, but still no one answers her. After a moment, the road went from smooth to a rocky country road. "Ooooh, so we're going to your hideout in the country side. I bet this is where you guys take all of your old school dates to remind them of the good ol' days. You know by abducting me is crossing a line, even for you, Rogers. I know you wanted to continue our relationship, but this is definitely not the way to do it." Steve felt her words hitting him, because he knew that she was toying with both of their emotions for each other, and yet again she is willing to throw them away along with their chance of happiness with each other to go back to a world where she didn't belong.

Steve hit the brakes without any warning nor indication that he was going to stop, which caused everyone to jerk foreword to be saved by their seatbelts. Steve looked at the young girl that he loved who was so willing to assure everyone first before herself. He angrily jumped out of the car, slammed the door shut, hung his head on the car and kept thinking about how many times she was willing to play with him and herself, while remembering who she really was when she wasn't Phantom, but Victoria. Natasha nodded at Wanda, who got out to greet the academy members while trying to calm down Steve. A couple of footsteps along with something on wheels approached the car, which made Steve and Wanda turn around. It was the X-Men there to greet their newest student. "Hello Steve Rogers, Wanda Maximoff," Charles Xavier greeted to the two ex-Avengers after he connected their minds so that no one had to speak and alert Phantom. Phantom tried to wiggle out of her restraints which made Natasha pull out her glock on Phantom, who immediately smelled the gunpowder. "Really, Nat. You're going to shoot me in front of Steve and in front of whoever he is supposed to give me to? That's not good for business and even a common dealer knows that." Natasha said nothing, so Phantom continued to listen to the outside of the car, but she couldn't hear a single word, which she had to hate to admit, frightened her. Steve turned to Natasha, nodded his head as the signal, and Natasha and Sam then left the car, leaving Phantom to herself. After they left, Phantom greatly struggled to get out of her restraints as quickly as she could, only to have everything burning her. She heard several patterns of footsteps approach her, so she stopped and chose to accept whatever fate was coming and then break out when she had a chance. Her door opened and Steve came to her side and spoke, "Victoria, you need to remain calm and not doing anything stupid, okay?" Phantom just glared at him through her blindfold and replied, "You tell your friends to back off and then I'll remain calm." Steve then tried to reason with her, only to have Phantom shut down whatever he was telling her by sassing him back. Everyone watched as the two lovers bickered with each other, until they felt that the conversation was going no where, so Jean Grey walked up, wrapped Phantom with various items such as vines, metal, and rope. While she did that, Phantom was yelling what was happening. Steve unbuckled her seatbelt, got it through the restraints, and then she was lifted by someone huge and in some type of metal body. "Do not struggle. Better for everyone," the metal person stated with a thick Russian Accent. When he carried her, Phantom cussed at him profoundly, yelling at him to let her go while she kicked, screamed, and even banged her head against him.

It took only five minutes to get her to what they called the "Pool Exercise Room." The man looked at Charles, who opened the door, nodded at him, which made the man throw Phantom into the room, while Jean released her restraints on the poor girl. Phantom fell into the pool, swam up to the surface, pulled off her eye mask, and immediately inspect her surroundings. She glanced around to see that the room was completely metal with only the exception for the deep pool, which had to be a couple miles deep, and not connected to a lake, creek, or ocean due to the smell and coloring. She looked at one of the walls and when she saw the symbol on the wall, all of the color left her face and she yelled abruptly, "OH HELL NO!" She stood on top of the water, and began to immediately to attack the door with waves of water and ice. This was the one place where she never wanted to go. The one place that never helped her after her family died. The place that denied her any housing or compassion, so in return, she denied them any chance of redemption towards her. She continued to yell at the people who she knew were watching her to see what she could do on her own, even with an unhealthy body that shouldn't be able to withstand the attacks that she was producing.

Steve, Charles, The Exvengers (AN: that's my name for Team Cap now), the X-Men, and the X Squad all watched as the young girl continued to shout profundities and attack the door and window. "Wow. You guys really pissed her off this time, huh? Last time we tried to extend our invitation, she sent you back my head. What is she going to do after she gets out this time, create the Sentinels?" All of the people chose to ignore Wade as he tried to ease the tension that Phantom was creating with her hostile presence. After what seemed like an hour of Phantom attacking the door, she fell onto the water and just floated on her back. "She finally blew out all of her energy," Charles stated blatantly. "No. She's giving us a false sense of security. She's holding back, so that once we open the door, she's going to attack us with everything she's got to try to escape," Wade countered to the man. Charles thought about what Wade had told him and ordered to Jean, "Call our Hydrokinetic Expert and tell him we have a hostile student that he needs to help stabilize." Jean nodded at Charles, sent the kinetic message to their expert, and told him to wear his standard mask. The man arrived wearing an Aztec Warrior and an X-Men suit on. Charles told him to be ready for anything and then he went to the door. As soon as they opened it, Phantom slammed her hand against the water, which created a giant wave towards the door. The Hydrokinetic Expert reached his hands and arms forward to form a triangle which divided the water in haft, while the Hydrokinetic man yelled, "SHUT THE DOOR SO SHE DOESN'T ESCAPE!" Charles ordered the door shut, leaving the Expert Teacher with an Expert Assassin.

She stood her ground on the water while she stared down the man. She saw that he was about five feet and eleven inches, had dark blackish hair, and she could tell that he was Latin due to the pigmentation of his skin. He had a semi-muscular built as well. She kept her position and commanded, "Move." The man only shook his head at her commandment, so she apologized as she zoomed towards him with tentacles of water surrounding her arms. The man barely intercepted her attack, while he swept water up to her face by kicking it up with his foot. She pushed herself away from his attack and created a distance between them, until she found that her feet were frozen to the water. She glanced down to her feet, then glared at the man while she smirk chaotically, and stated, "Not bad. This is going to be fun." Phantom broke her feet free, surrounded her whole body with water, and then sent a barrage of ice chakrams towards the man. The man dodged all of her attacks by running. When he got to where he wanted, he created a giant wall of water and ice, and sent it to her. She used the armor of water surrounding her form, to create a giant side pyramid to divide the wall in haft. She ran forward and began to fight hand to hand with the man once again. Phantom managed to get the better hand, and knock the man off of his feet, so he back away from her as quickly as he could to get his standing and form back. After he did that, Phantom felt that it was time to finish the fight, she used her nail to cut her hand open, dripped some blood into the water, and then used her concentration to form a wingless water dragon to form from the watery abyss. The beast circled around Phantom, glared at the man, and roared at him. The man was taken back by this tactic, but planted his feet firmly onto the floor and prepared for her attack. Phantom ordered the beast to attack, but as soon as it jaws opened, the man swept to the side, gripped onto the side of the beast, and ordered, "Go attack your Master." The dragon morphed into a beast with many eyes, and set of fangs, and after it took its form, it burst back to Phantom, who only swept her arm to the right to deform the beast. The man saw Phantom smirk from her spot, then she reached her open right hand, which made the water below the man rise up, and wrapped him up. When he tried to make the water detach itself, but then he realized why she dripped her blood into the water and sending the dragon to him was a diversion to get the water tainted by blood next to him without him suspected it. It wasn't for the benefit of manipulating the dragon better, it was to get a leverage of manipulating all of the water to ensure that he couldn't control it when she would.

She made the man fall to his knees and then lay against the water. Steve ran to the door, only to have Xavier tell him, "No. She won't hurt him. Let it happen." Steve was cautious to the man, but nodded at his commandment and watched the scene unfold. Phantom walked up to the man, crouched down to examine him, and stated, "You put up a good fight, but unfortunately, I need to get out of here and you are going to help me." Phantom lifted up his mask and when she saw whom it was it shocked her to her very core. It was the one man in her life that she loved more than anything. The one whose memory kept her going on her quest for vengeance, the man whose face still haunts her… her father, Enrique Rios. She backed away from the man slowly, her restraints against the man melted away, and she shook her head back and forth while proclaiming, "No… No… NO! THIS IS A DIRTY TRICK CHARLES, EVEN FOR YOU!" Phantom went back to the man, picked him up by his collar and questioned, "WHO ARE YOU?!" The man only shook at her anger and tried to explain that he was really Enrique Rios. She didn't buy it so she got more violent, and then she whispered angrily at him, "If you are really Enrique, answer me this: At what age did your children obtain their abilities? What did they do and how did you and your wife react? How did your family die?" The man looked very shocked at her question, because he never documented the memories because they were burned into his memory for as long as he will live, so he answered cautiously, "My firstborn child, my son, accessed his abilities when he reached eleven years old. We were fishing and instead of using a net, he picked the fish up in a sphere of water. I took many pictures with my camera and then my wife bake him his favorite dessert, pumpkin pie, to specialize the occasion. My daughter obtained her abilities when she was four years old. It was in the middle of winter and she turned the falling snow into a sphere of ice. My wife finished making supper, then we three sat at the fireplace with hot cocoa in our pajamas while we just enjoyed each other's company. I lost my family because my son, in a jealous and hate filled rage, shot my wife and I. My wife died, but I managed to live due to my abilities and the X-Men taking care of me. My son was shot and stabbed to death by someone, but I do not know who, and both his and his mother's bodies disappeared and were never recovered. My daughter died in a house fire about a week after my supposed funeral, but her body was gone as well, probably turned to ashes… and it is all my fault."

Phantom shook to her very core, immediately released the man, and began to back away slowly as she shook her head, while tears streamed down her face. "No, no, no, no, no, no," Phantom stated as she was shaking. The lights in both rooms began to flicker rapidly and before anyone knew it, they all blew out and shattered. The earth began to shake and quiver along with her body as the water began to create giant waves and thrashed both of the people inside around. The people outside heard the wind desperately pushing the building from above. She gripped tightly to her head and thought of everything that she had just done then and there, within her past, and what she had exposed to her father, who she believed to be dead up until that moment. Everyone watched in horror, shock, and astonishment at the young girl's reaction. Xavier stated aloud, "Her kinetic abilities are thrashing around too much. As some point, her mind and body are going to disintegrate due to them not having the physical and mental capacity to withstand her own attacks. Jean, I'm going to need your help to stabilize her." Jean, Wanda, and Xavier all went forward and attempted to penetrate her mind, only to be shot with her excruciating memories. It was enough to wound them all, knock them out, and make them cry within their own subconscious. Steve felt deep within his heart that enough was enough and that Victoria was going to hurt everyone, but he chose to keep the door shut because Enrique looked like he was holding his own on the water currents. While this was happening, Phantom was going into a nuclear war within her mind. Everything that she had believed was a lie, and within that moment, her mind and world were collapsing around her. Nothing made sense to her anymore, all of the colors were fading from her vision to make everything shades of black, gray, and white. The only thing that wasn't black, gray, or white was the water that was turning blood red with the blood of those that she killed and those who were killed by her actions. All she could hear were the screams of victims before they died and she could see them all within the depths of her mind. The scream of her mother, father, and brother brought her back from her memories to see her father with fear within his eyes. She immediately surveyed the area to find her way out. When she saw the door, she immediately made a dash to it, she pulled the door up to try to pry it open. When she couldn't, she formed four giants arms of the blood/water to help her, and when those didn't work, she used the metal that was falling from the ceiling to make stronger arms to help with the opening.

After a moment of them trying, the door opened. As soon as it did, Phantom sent a giant gust of wind to knock down the people who weren't passed out yet, and as soon as she did, she ran past the people, to the stairs, and then out of the building as fast as she could. After Steve recovered for her gust of wind, he looked at Logan, who yelled, "SILVER!" An old face that Steve recognized ran up to the group and asked, "You need something?" Steve raised an eyebrow and asked, "Pietro Maximoff?" The man smirked at him and asked, "You didn't see that coming?" Logan looked at Pietro and ordered, "Phantom lost her mind, got out, and took off. Go get her and bring her back." Pietro nodded his head at Wolverine's order and took off after Phantom. Phantom ran as fast as she could and even used the air to push her forward. She was desperate to try to get away from that area. Everything was still black, gray, or white, and she still kept hearing all the screaming of the victims, and everything bad and wrong within her memories were coming back all at once. Hitting her like a freight train, causing tears of anguish and regret to stream down from her face for the first time in years rather than a lone tear. As she kept running, she sensed another presence hastily approaching her. She quickly stomped her foot against the floor then swept it on the ground to set up a wall of stone to measure up to 500ft. After that she kept running, only to have the figure appear before her. As soon as she saw him, her eyebrows immediately raised up and she questioned, "Pietro?" He smiled at her, ran quickly to her, swept her off her feet, and asked while flirting, "You didn't see me coming?" She only shook her head in confusion. She sensed more presences approaching them, so she asked, "Pietro, please, I'm only going to request this once: put me down, please." Pietro gave her a sad smile and replied, "Sorry, Liebchen, but I need to take you back." Phantom shook her head at him, looked deeply within his eyes, and stopped his bloodstream to freeze his body. She hopped out of his arms, made an armor of stone that connected him to the ground and stated before running off, "Sorry, but I need to get away from here." She ran towards where she needed to go after she stopped using her abilities on the blood flow.

She smelled the water of the sea, so she ran to that direction. As soon as she made it past the woods, she ran to the cliff only to stop in her tracks when she saw the weather controlling X-Man blocking her path. "Phantom, you must come back so that we can train you. You are too unstable to be on your own," Storm told/threatened the young girl. Phantom narrowed her eyes and shook her head to show her defiance. Storm told her so be it, and then shot some lightning at Phantom. Phantom held her ground, positioned herself, absorbed the lightning, sent the bolts from one side of her body to the other, and shot the bolts out of her forefinger back to Storm. The electricity didn't affect her, but Phantom used the lightning as a distraction to connect her mind to Storm's bloodstreams, so she froze Storm from the inside out, rather than outside in, so her mutation wouldn't be able to affect Phantom's attack. Storm fell towards the ground and Phantom rushed to catch her. Once Phantom caught her, she whispered an apology to Storm, and then threw her to the incoming X-Men while sending in another wave of heavy wind gust. Phantom used Storm's body as a distraction, ran to the cliff, and jumped off to drive into the blood staining seawater.

Steve ran to cliff only to be stopped by Logan yelling, "Don't jump in after her. She'll come back. She has to. She's got nowhere to go nor has anyone to stay with. Just wait, she'll be back here, crawling on her hands and knees." Steve glared at Logan, then looked out to the water to see any sign of Phantom, who used her hydrokinetic abilities to push currents against her body towards upstate to get out of the situation that she was in. Steve glanced at all the destruction that Phantom had made just to escape. Several of the trees were blown down to the ground to the intensity of the wind power that Phantom had used. The wall of stone was crumbling to the ground, Enrique was thawing out Storm's bloodstreams, Steve saw that the ground was breaking around him along with all of the scorch marks of the electric bolts. What disturbed him the most were the droplets of spilt blood on the floor wherever Phantom was standing or running. As Steve observed the environment, looked out to the water, and whispered to Phantom, "I'm so sorry that I didn't tell you sooner."

* * *

Phantom swam as far as she could until she felt like she couldn't go any farther. She swam to a cliff that had a deep dark cave by the ocean. Phantom went into the cave, brought her knees up to her chest, and cried her heart out as she screamed and wailed in pain and anguish. As Phantom screamed and cried, all of the deep hurting emotions caused Phantom to feel as though she needed an outlet, so she did something that she hadn't done since her days of assassination training: hurt herself. She began to scratch and claw herself all over her body, her arms, her legs, her hands, her feet, her throat, and even at one point, her face. As soon as she hurt herself, the caves speleothem water drips would drip on her causing the water to heal her wounds as fast as she was causing them. She used the physical pain to try mask her emotional pain. She also wanted to dull out the screaming of the victims with her own screaming. Phantom continued this pattern until she fell asleep crying while she begged and pled her heart out for silence and for everything to stop. When Phantom awoke, she kept hearing the screaming and saw the bloodied water, she continued with the cutting, clawing, and scratching process all over again, until she fell asleep once more. She continued this pattern, until she realized that the bloodied ocean water was getting too high, so she left the cave, went to a liquor store, bought all the hard liquid that they had, and flew a private jet to the one country where she believed that she could clear her head: Wakanda.

As she flew the jet to Wakanda, she heard the screaming that was making her feel like she was losing her mind. She had to pilot her way through the intense storms. The rain looked like it was staining her windshield with blood. After flying for a while, she arrived to Wakanda, but right as she was setting up to land the plane, she heard an old voice that she hadn't heard in years: her old guild master's. "You could end it all right now, ya know. You can just let go of the wheel and fall. Easy as that. Nobody wants you, anyway. They all lied to you, FOR YEARS! You gave up everything. Your love, your pursuit, your life; everything, while they only pursued their own desires. Just let go, Victoria. Let go." Phantom listen to the woman carefully, desperately trying to convince herself that it wasn't true, until she really thought about it, and realized…. It was true. Everything that woman had said was true. Phantom listened to the woman tell her to let go, and as she did, Phantom lost her focus, her eyes went glassy, and she did just that… she let go of the wheel. The plane spun out of control as Phantom fell to the ground. All Phantom could think of, "Please, let this end. Let my miserable life end. Please, allow me to end my suffering." As Phantom and the plane dove to the ground, T'Challa, Shuri, and the Dowager Queen ran outside to see the plane descending at a great speed towards the ground without any indication of it stopping. "What is that, an enemy airship? How did they find us?" The Dowager Queen asked T'Challa, Shuri, and Okoye. "I do not know, but with your orders, we will shoot it down, My King," Okoye told T'Challa. T'Challa thought about his options, analyzed the plane and situation, and was about to give his order, until Shuri yelled, "WAIT, THAT'S STRIGOI IN THAT JET! SHE'S PAST OUT! WE HAVE TO HELP HER!" T'Challa looked into the plane and saw Shuri's camera that she hacked to the jet, and realized that she was right. "Okoye, send our planes to rescue her, NOW! Shuri, use the magnetic repulsers to catch her." Both of them nodded their heads, and went to do as T'Challa ordered. Several of the Wakandan planes went to Phantom's diving plane, got behind it, released the wired projectiles to grab Phantom's plane, and immediately turned on the reverse option on their planes to try to stop the movement. While they did that, Shuri activated the magnetic repulsers to repel Phantom's jet from the ground as much as they could to prevent Phantom's jet from hitting the ground. All those actions, made Phantom's jet go into a hault and the drastic deceleration caused Phantom to jerk forward. She realized what happened, analyzed the situation and mumbled in disappointment, "Damn."

The people brought her safely to the ground on the back of the Black Panther Statue, Phantom unbuckled her seatbelt, went to the crates, picked up one of them, and went outside the ship. She put the crate on the Panther's head, sat down, opened the crate, pulled out a giant bottle of Spirytus, opened it, and began to chug it down. T'Challa walked up to the hurting mercenary, and he was about to talk to her about what just happened, but when he saw her he stopped his tracks. Her eyes were blank and looked glassy and dull. She had dark circles and bags under her eyes. Her cheeks looked as though they were beginning to hollow out due to poor nourishment. When T'Challa looked at the bottle, her expression, and the situation and assessed his options. He could either force Phantom to come in and treat her, or he could leave her to try to get whatever was on her mind out. "Strigoi, do you want to come in, warm up, and eat?" T'Challa asked her. Phantom just gazed out to the abyss and said nothing. T'Challa took her silence as a no, so he just nodded at her, and left her to drinking away her sorrows.

After three days of Phantom drinking on top of the Panther head twenty-four seven, T'Challa and Shuri went to visit her. As they walked over, they saw various empty bottles scattered around the area, from Fireball, Spirytus, Moonshine, Absinthe, Hennessey, Rum, Scotch, and even Everclear. As the approach the ladder that was waiting for the two of them to go up to meet Phantom, when T'Challa asked with caution and loud enough for Phantom to hear, "Hey Strigoi, how's it going?" Phantom tossed the empty bottle of Crown Royal XR infront of their feet, which shattered upon impact. Everyone stopped their actions. T'Challa and Shuri gazed at each other and T'Challa stated, "I think she needs more time. Tomorrow, we'll come back and hopefully we'll have better luck and it won't be raining." Shuri looked at Phantom worriedly, but reluctantly agreed.

The next day, T'Challa called one of newest citizens to come with him to talk to Phantom when they all arrived, they saw that were even more bottles than there were the day before. Shuri, T'Challa, and Bucky all climbed the slippery latter that was drenched from the non-stop rain that came when Phantom did. When they all got up the latter, they saw Phantom on her back with a full open bottle of Hennessey that was being watered down by the rain. They all slowly walked up to the young woman, who was lying on her back, just gazing up to the dark clouds that were raining on her. They all saw that her eyes were still glassy, her cheeks were hollow, and that she was starting to look like a dead body beginning to decay. Bucky signaled for T'Challa and Shuri to stand back while he went to talk to Phantom. He walked up to her slowly only to notice that she wasn't paying attention to her surroundings and allowed herself to be subjugated to her own thoughts. He went on his one knee, touched her forehead, and then he heard and saw everything that was within her mind. He heard muffled screaming from many people, blurred visions of massacres, and felt pain throughout his body from wounds. Bucky quickly retracted his hand, and deeply gazed at the young girl. He then heard a clear voice among the mumbled screaming that he hadn't heard in years: Madam Apophis. "What are you waiting for, Phantom? You can get your vengeance now against one of the many who lied, cheated, and stole the life that was intended for you. Kill him and then end your own suffering." Bucky was puzzled by the voice, until Phantom lifted the bottle, brought it to her lips, and chug it through her mask. Bucky heard Apophis's voice shrill out, "YOU CAN'T DRINK ME AWAY FOREVER, VICTORIA! YOU KNOW I'M RIGHT! YOU NEED MEEEEEEEE!" After drinking the muffled screaming voices and Apophis's voice died out. Bucky stared at the girl who eyes were dulling out even more than they were before. Bucky was about to ask, so she replied, "The alcohol makes her go away. Along with the screaming, the clear vision of bloody rain blurs, and the pain dulls out."

Bucky took a step back because he felt a strong murderous aura waving off of her. She sat up quickly, her torso swayed back and forth, and then she threw the bottle at him while she screamed, "THIS IS YOUR FAULT! IT'S ALL YOUR FAULTS! YOU'VE ALL DONE THIS TO ME!" Bucky and T'Challa both tried to approach her, she gripped onto her head tightly as her body shook, and she whispered quietly as her emotions and memories were racing in her mind, "get away… Get away… GET AWAY!" As she screamed out, several gust of wind flared away from her body, as the rain hardened to make bullets go into the ground, but avoid her. The ground shook and so did she, while everyone else was taking cover from the intense rain. W'Kabi used his bombardon to shield Shuri and T'Challa, while Bucky used his own bombardon to shield himself from Phantom's wrath. This continued for a couple of moments, until Phantom's body stopped shaking, she quickly fell back to lay down on the ground, and the hail went back to water. The rain down poured harder than before. Phantom reached her hand out to the crate, a single bottle of fireball lifted out of the crate and floated to her. She opened the bottle, took a deep breath and chugged the bottle as much as she could. After she finished drinking, there was only an eighth of the whiskey left. Phantom mumbled an apology to the people, and just deeply breathed while she relaxed herself, her mind, and her abilities. Everyone chose to leave at that to leave Phantom alone to calm herself down and try again one last time the next day before marking her as hostile. As they left they heard her sing to herself:

[Another day, another week

Another month, another year

Another day, another night

Until it's day again

The sun is fled, I go to bed

And scratch a line on the wall

Another day, where nothing changes at all

And everyday shuffles by like the day before

On its way to the blackest of skies

And everyday a little death comes and paces the floor

And a little bit more of me dies

Another day, another week

Another month, another year

Another night I spend alone

Until it's day again

Our little star has moved away

And all the world is a blur

I only see I am not me

Without her…]

The last day of Phantom's drinking and sulking in Wakanda, T'Challa, Shuri, and the Dowager Queen Mother Ramonda all went to go see Phantom to try to get her to stop her sulking. T'Challa thought it was best not to bring in the White Wolf because of the power excretion that she did the day before. T'Challa, Shuri, and Ramonda all stood at the base of the Panther, but T'Challa yelled, "Strigoi, I know that you are still hurting, but we believe that you need to come inside and talk about what's been happening to you." Phantom kept her position and said with a drunken slur, "Oh, fuck off." Ramonda found herself insulted for T'Challa, who understood that Phantom was hurting deeply and said that due to her hostile emotions. Ramonda stepped forward to the Panther and responded, "You need to show respect your king, Strigoi." Phantom only tossed the empty bottle over her body and towards the three royals. T'Challa pulled Ramonda out of the empty bottle's path, which infuriated Ramonda to high hell. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! YOU COULD SERIOUSLY HURT ONE OF US WITH THOSE BOTTLES! NOW OBEY YOUR KING AND COME DOWN HERE THIS INSTANT!" Phantom felt her drunken state begin to fade, and Apophis voice came out and so did a whitish ghost-like form of her appeared in Phantom's eyes. "Who is she to tell you what to do? She doesn't own you, does she? Taking that tone with you, show her who you really are." Phantom glared over towards their direction and stated threateningly, "As I stated. Fuck. Off." Ramonda felt her pride being hit by the young girl, so she yelled, "YOU NEED TO COME DOWN HERE AND APOLOGIZE TO YOUR KING, PRINCESS, AND QUEEN MOTHER IMMEDIATELY!" Phantom heard what Ramonda ordered from her, but Apophis kept yelling at her to do something about the Dowager Queen.

Phantom feeling pressured and irritation by the two women, jumped up to her feet, then off to the side of the Panther landed on her two feet, strode over to the three people, got into the Ramonda's face and whispered/threatened, "And what will you do if I don't, Ramonda?" The royal guards surrounded Phantom, grabbed their spears, and pointed them at Phantom, while yelling at her to step away. Ramonda narrowed her eyes at the young girl getting into her face and replied, "You will face the consequences of your actions. You belong to Wakanda and you will show it respect." Phantom glared at the woman and stated, "I belong to no one, and certainly not to some spoiled little monarch with an entitlement complex." Ramonda felt that Phantom had crossed a line, so Ramonda narrowed her eyes at the intolerable girl, and the two went into a staring showdown. It took a solid couple of minutes, but Ramonda was the first one to break the contact and looked away. Phantom scoffed at the woman, pivoted to the left, used swirled air around her feet, shot herself onto the Panther's body, and walked towards the jet. Ramonda yelled to the young mercenary, "YOU COME BACK HERE AND APOLOGIZE FOR YOUR TRAITOROUS WAYS! IF YOU DON'T COME BACK HERE, APOLOGIZE, AND REPENT, YOU WILL BE MARKED AS A TRAITOR!" Phantom only turned around, kept walk backwards towards the plane, expanded her arms out, and proclaimed loudly with a maniac type of look within her face and eyes that were flickering between red and black, "GO AHEAD! I'M ALREADY A TRAITOR EVERYWHERE ELSE IN THE WORLD! I DON'T NEED YOU NOR ANYONE ELSE WHO IS GOING TO LIE OR CHEAT ME!" Phantom then pivoted back towards the jet, went inside, and then took off towards her next destination. Before she got inside and left, T'Challa stepped forward to stop her, but Ramonda grabbed him by his arm, and warned him, "Don't. You will look weak and foolish by bringing in a traitor." T'Challa felt himself being torn between his mother and his friend, so he looked back and forth between the two women, until he heeded his mother's advice and watch the young broken adult leave.

* * *

Phantom flew out to a nearly empty valley very close to the Zhangjiajie Scenic Area, which was deeply hidden within the forest. The stone ruins of the temple were minuscule compared to what they would have been within their time, but the monks kept the stone ground that were erupt by the trees. The monks built small hut houses under the thick bristles of the trees so that they could remain hidden from the world. Phantom landed the jet onto the stone ground, grabbed the last remaining crate of alcohol, and left the jet. Once she got off, several of the young monks and teachers that were approaching her helicopter, since they knew her from her previous visits, greeted her. She gave them her small fake smile. Apophis appeared after she saw the Grand Master and she went to Phantom's left side, and whispered in her ear, "Kill them, kill them all. They'll betray you just like the Avengers, Tony, and even your father did. Just kill them to save yourself the pain, do it, do it, do it…" As Apophis continued to try to persuade the already guarded girl, but Apophis's form moved to the training pool as she continued to try to persuade the young girl. Phantom's annoyance build up until she couldn't contain it anymore, so she sent a barrage of ice spikes out of the water to impale Apophis form while she screamed, "SHUT UP!" All of the monks backed away with fear except for the Grand Master who just kept his stoic expression. Phantom felt bad about the way she scared the monks, so she whispered an apology and began her long hike to the sacred springs.

Phantom hiked up the mountain to a clear area that had several clear circular springs that had pure gray stone, while the one that was surrounded by all of them had grass all around the spring and inside the spring to form a bowl. Thirteen springs were clear but had a water down tint to each of them. The one at the top a watered down pinkish tint spring, the one next to it was a white blue tint, next a golden spring, then a turquoise, a lavender, a green, a darker blue, burnt red, a brown, a whitish gray, an indigo, and then a darker gray. The one in the middle that was surrounded by the other springs was pure and clear. Phantom went around the outside circle of springs to the inner spring. She sat down next to it, opened the crate, grabbed a bottle of Balkan 176, opened it, and began to drink. After her drinking for over an hour, the Grand Master Monk came up to her and asked, "What troubles your mind, young one?" Phantom just laid down in silence for a moment, until she responded, "Nothing. Just that everyone I know and loved lied to me, now I've got no where to go. My mind's murky and I can't focus cause I don't know what to do anymore, nor forget what I've done." The monk analyzed her answer, stared at the young troubled girl, and responded, "I believe it best that you advise yourself and separate your problems from then and now. See what truly troubles you and what trouble is to be concerned about." Phantom laid on the soaked ground, allowed the rain to fall on her, and thought about what the Master had suggested to her. She thought for a moment until an idea struck her. She sat up, went into Lotus position, put her hands into the ninja dog position, and focused her energy into the water. From the pools that had the tint of the green and indigo, two water figures shaped as humans came from it. The water then morphed itself into two different figures: one of the current Phantom and the other was her during the time that Ultron was created. Phantom focused the argument that she was having with herself, and let the two figures sing what she was feeling:

(AN: U.P = Ulton Phantom; Current = the Current thoughts)

[U.P.: Sorrowful

Current: Regretful

U.P.: All of those years that I lost

Current: Memory comes at a cost

U.P.: Those I trusted let me down

Current: Everything I tried to hide in my past

U.P.: It's too late to make it okay

Both: Right and wrong changes with

Current: time

U.P.: Every old lie that's told

Current: Every new truth revealed

U.P.: Love and Loss

Current: I've known my share

U.P.: We were inseparable

Current: I had looked up to them

U.P.: How can I trust again?

Both: What will become of us?

Current: Can we learn to forgive?

U.P.: And then suddenly they were gone…

Current: Will she be victorious?

Both: Was all our love for not?

Current: At least they're are safe

U.P.: How could they turn away from me…

U.P.: Sorrowful

Current: Regretful

U.P.: All of those years that I lost

Current: Memory comes at a cost

U.P.: Those I trusted let me down

Current: Everything I tried to hide in my past

U.P.: It's too late to make it okay

Both: What I'd give to take it all

Current: back

U.P.: back, so I won't get hurt

Current: So that they wouldn't hurt you

U.P.: Foolish pride

Current: clouded my mind

U.P.: I was blinded, I believed those pretty lies

Current: so how can I fix this?

U.P.: and How can we move on?

Current: I would give almost anything

U.P.: I wish I could be ignorant

Current: I know we messed it up but

Both: I don't deserve this

U.P.: I want to forget it

Current: but it doesn't work that way

U.P.: Sorrowful

Current: Regretful

U.P.: All of those years that I lost

Current: Memory comes at a cost

U.P.: Those I trusted let me down

Current: Everything I tried to hide in my past

U.P.: It's too late to make it okay

Both: We both know sorrow and regret

U.P.: They denied me my past

Current: I was only trying to do what is best for us

U.P.: Well I never asked for this, I never wanted this, all that I want is to be their equal

Current: Look into your heart, you'll see that we're…

U.P.: Just get away from me, please cease your empty plea, you're always trying to be somebody else. Now I realize I'm all alone

Current: But they're right here by your side

U.P.: but all that they've done is lied!

Current: Please do not turn away

U.P.: There's nothing that you can say!

((U.P.'s ending part:

You cannot understand, you're always resistant

Stop apologizing

I feel something missing

I just want to go away

Why can't you leave me alone?))

((Current's ending part:

You cannot understand, you're always resistant

Just apologizing

I feel something missing

I just want my sister back

Why can't we just get along?)]

After the last belt both of the figures lost their form and went back into their pooled springs. Phantom fell backwards in frustration. She knew that both sides of her were fighting for great reasons. One side was fighting because she felt betrayed by everyone she knew, while the other side of her was fighting because she wanted to just move on from everything and be with the ones she cared about. She wanted her life to go back the way it was before her parents died. Back when she was pure, happy, and didn't have to worry about anything except her schedule. She wanted to get rid of past, but even if she threw it away, that didn't mean everyone else would. Phantom stood up, went to the center pool, took off her mask, put it onto the ground, gazed into her reflection, and noticed how her past has changed her, from her eyes, to her scars.

[Its over now I know inside,

No one will ever know...

The sorry tale of Victoria Rios,

And those who died...

No one must ever know...

They'd only see the tragedy,

They'd not see my intent,

The shadow of Phantom's evil...

Would forever kill the good that I had meant...]

Phantom felt her emotions wearing her down once more, so she went down to knees and asked to her reflection:

[Am I a good man?

Am I a mad man?

Its such a fine line between a good man and a...]

Little did Phantom know, her emotions manifested themselves into a single form that came from grayish black water and approached her. The form looked exactly like she did after the incident with Ultron, with the wounds and all. The look within its eyes was that after she found that the Avengers abandoned her. Phantom didn't sense the presence of the water but just tried to make sense of her emotions, but the form walked up to her, put its hands on her shoulders, and it sang:

[Do you really think that I would ever let you go?

Do you think that I would ever sent you free?

If you do, I'm sad to say, it simply isn't so

You will never get away from me!]

Phantom pushed the hands away, pivoted her body towards the form, and gazed at horror at the being before her. She saw all of her pain and suffering into the being but also her menacing and sociopathic/psychotic persona within its eyes. Phantom tried to get away from the being by backing away while she was on the ground, as she continued:

* * *

Phantom scrambled around to find anything to try to kill the creature. Phantom found a shard of glass from the broken alcohol bottle, and slashed the form, but when she saw that it wasn't going down, she knew it was her subconscious, and she knew how to end it. She brought the knife up to her heart and sang:

[Phantom: All that you are is a nightmare

All that you are is a dying scream

After tonight I shall end this demon dream!]

The form lurched forward, took the shard, and threw it as far as it could away, while slapping Phantom face and singing:

[Form: This is not a dream, my friend, and it will never end

This one is the nightmare that goes on

I'M HERE TO STAY NO MATTER WHAT YOU MAY PRETEND

AND I'LL FLORISH AFTER YOU'RE GONE!]

Phantom knowing that her life wasn't going to live long due to her poor health and heart condition, fought back:

[Phantom: Soon you will die and my memory will hide you

You cannot choose but to loose control!

Form: You can't control me, I live deep inside you!

Each day you'll feel me devour your soul!

Phantom: I don't need you to survive like you need me

I'll become whole as you dance with death

And I'll rejoice as you breathe your final breath!]

The form got into Phantom's face and Phantom saw her own reflection within the form's eyes and she relived all the pain and suffering that happened during that time as the form got into her face and she desperately tried to deny that she wasn't like that person anymore:

[Form: I'll live inside you forever!

Phantom: No…

Form: With death herself by my side!

Phantom: NO!

Form: And I know that now and forever

They'll never be able to separate the evil of you and I!]

Phantom shook her head, felt her powers surge, and that her heartbeat begin to weaken:

[Phantom: Can't you see it's over now?

IT'S TIME TO DIE!

Form: No, not I only you

Phantom: If I die, you'll die too

Form: You'll die in me, I'LL BE YOU!

Phantom: DAMN YOU, PAST!

LEAVE ME BE!

Form: Can't you see, you are me?!

Phantom: NO! Deep inside-

Form: I am you, You are I!

Phantom: NO-NEVER!

Form: Yes forever!

Phantom: GODDAMN YOU PAST!

TAKE ALL YOUR EVIL DEEDS AND ROT IN HELL!

Form: WE'LL SEE YOU THERE, VICTORIA!]

The water from the form surged forward to Phantom and absorbed her. All of her memories of the pain, suffering, and loss hit her memories as she felt Apophis/Assassin side of her merge with her own subconscious. She felt all of her loving, caring, and family related memories slipping away into the darkness of her pained memories. She fell to the floor on her hands and knees and gazed into her reflection. She saw her menacing eyes return as they flashed from the azure to blood red. As Phantom lost her memories, she felt her forgiveness go with them, so she began:

[Phantom: I gave them my life

Let our powers take wing

But now, have they've repaid me

Denied me and betrayed me

They were bound to leave me

When they heard me sing]

Phantom heard the voices of all the people she used to care about, heard them laughing and snickering at her and her situation. She felt all of her flames of revenge surge up and she yell to the sky:

[Phantom: YOU WILL CURSE THE DAY YOU DID NOT DO

ALL THAT PHANTOM ASKED YOU!]

At that exact moment, a lightning bolt stroke a blooming tree and completely broke it in haft. The tree remained on fire, as Phantom rose to her feet and the monks saw the crazed look in her eyes and a menacing smile to match. She turned to the monks, brought a finger to her lips to show them that they needed to keep quiet, and she left, went to the jet, and flew off to her next destination to set up her new plan.

* * *

Phantom arrived after sending an anonymous message to the Exvengers that the young heir of a small country in Europe was going to be killed that following night to gain information for HYDRA. Phantom went to her station, which was a hidden passage way that only a select few knew about, and waited until she saw sign of the Exvengers. When the time came, she sent a small canister of harmless gas into the room, and the monarch was quickly escorted out of the room by Natasha. Steve searched the room for any signs of the enemy, and when he got into the proper spot, Phantom lurched forward, grabbed him, muffled his mouth and pulled him into a safe room. The room was sound proof and had surveillance of every room in the mansion except the one that they were in, thanks to Phantom for putting black tape on the camera. Steve fought off his unknown assailant, until he noticed the shackles on their wrists. He stopped fighting, and when Phantom noticed this, she let go and slid to the ground to stand on her own two feet. They both gazed into each other's eyes for a moment and Steve noticed something every odd about Phantom's. Her eyes held an emotion that he never seen from her. There was no love, no hope, not even a twitch of joy within them. Only an undesirable darkness.

"How did know about my father, Rogers?" she asked him a low monotone voice. Steve knew that he couldn't tell her due to her tendencies to act irrationally when upset, so he chose to keep quiet and not say anything. Phantom saw that was going to take the truth to his grave, so she did something she thought that she would have never been able to do, she began to torture Steve. Steve's heart felt as if it was being squished from the inside, and it made him fall to his knees. He looked up to see Phantom slowly closing her hand into a fist. She released her hand, which made the squished feeling stop. She crouched down next to Steve, brought his face up to hers, while she kept his body paralyzed, and began to do a deep inhale. The inhale caused all of the air within Steve to come out in that moment, suffocating him in the process. After she stopped, she allowed him to gain some air and then she waited for him to talk. The next thing she did, she brought up his face once one, positioned herself by his ear, and blew several gust of wind into it. The wind blew out his eardrum, which was deafening him, and then the wind got into his cranial area and began to push against his brain. She stopped once more, but he said nothing, she finalized her torture by grounding up his bones from inside, slowly and painfully. Steve yelled out in agonized pain, and after a moment, she stopped once again to see if he would talk. He still said nothing, even with him bleeding out of his eardrums, grounded bones, and hurting heart. Phantom exhaled a deep breath, analyzed the surveillance videos and noticed that Wanda was approaching the area that they were in. Phantom smirked beneath her mask, quickly extinguished it, pivoted to the door, and proclaimed while walking, "Well since you're not going to cooperate. Maybe your little witchy will. I can be very persuasive." Steve knew exactly what she meant and he feared that Phantom was going to do more than just torture Wanda, so he stated quietly, "Tony told us. After you died during the Ultron incident, Tony found out who your father was and knew that he was alive. He told us shortly after that." Phantom said nothing, flicked her finger, and Steve passed out in an instant. Phantom turned off all the power in the mansion and escaped without any of the other Exvengers noticing her, and went on to New York City.

Phantom flew the jet at the JFK airport under the pretenses that she had an assignment placed there and she needed to speak to Tony Stark right away. The rain came all the way from China with her, and began to downpour on the citizens of New York City. The people let her land the plane without any issues. Phantom went into Midtown School of Science and Technology, walked through the empty hallways, and when she made it in front of the classroom that she desired, she stopped. She took a very deep breath, and went inside of the classroom full of students. One student in particular stood up among the crowd. Phantom showed a tiny smile beneath her mask. Peter slowly walked until he went into a full sprint, while Phantom only walked over to him. Once they both embraced each other, lightning struck the sky. It was like they were holding on to each other for dear life. Peter had his arms from her torso, while Phantom had hers around his neck. Phantom savored the moment, remembered his scent, accepted his arms and loving touch, and greatly enjoyed the thoughts and desires that was running through her mind from his, until she coyly slid a note into his sweatshirt, and sent a message into his head, "Meet me here and come alone. If anyone else comes with, I won't show and disappear." Peter nodded at her, she let go, addressed the students and the teacher, and then she left accordingly.

Peter followed her map to an abandoned warehouse on Long Beach, by the Atlantic River, near a giant storage facility. He went to the far room right near the river, and he saw a giant opening that was caused by some destruction. Phantom sat on a ledge that overlooked the ocean. Peter slowly approached the unsuspecting mercenary. When he got close enough, he saw that her mask was completely off of her face, which completely threw Peter off. Peter kept walking, until he accidently kicked a pebble softly and stopped in his tracks. Peter stopped walking in his tracks, until Phantom spoke out, "Come and sit down with me, Peter." Peter went over to her, remained standing, and asked, "Where have you been? What's happened to you?" Phantom only lifted her hand and replied with little emotion, "A lot. But the biggest thing that happened is…. I found out that my father is alive, well, and lives in upstate New York." Peter became flabbergasted and was about to ask how, until Phantom patted down on the ground next to her. Peter sat down and was a little weirded out by Phantom's strange behavior.

As soon as he sat down, she placed her head upon his shoulder as they both sat in silence. Peter and she sat in silence as he rubbed her back as reassurance, and even kissed the top of her head to show his sympathy. "What happens now?" Peter asked Phantom. Phantom kept her gaze at the constant changing ocean waves and replied, "I'm going to finish what I started." Phantom pulled away from his comforting embrace, pivoted her form to face his, made his body face hers, grabbed his hands, and told him, "Peter, you are one of my very best friends in the world. I love you to death and I would be devastated if something were to ever happen to you. With that said, I want to promise something. Something that is huge and even a big request coming from me. I want you to promise me, that no matter what may happen that you will not, under any circumstances, try to change me or my mind and ambitions, nor get in my way. Even if it is for my own good, or, fate forbid, Tony orders you to. All in all, I want to stay away after today." Peter looked completely flabbergasted by her request. He tried to deny her request, but Phantom shook her head and explained, "Peter, I'm not… I'm not… good. I'm losing my grip of everything. Reality, my senses, even my own mind. I want you to stay out of the way and away from what problems I may create or endure, because once I let go of my control, I might able to get it back. I'm scared that I'm not strong enough to control her. I want to keep you safe, so please, promise me. Please, I'm begging you. Promise?" Peter felt his fear grow within his body. His spidey senses were screaming at him to run away from her, but he fought it to stay near her. "Victoria, I… I can't promise you that. Why would you ask me to stay away?" Peter plead to her, because he deeply wished to understand her intentions. Phantom reached up to gently hold his cheeks and straddled him to hold him in place. While she held him down, Peter noticed that she was shaking profoundly, so he put his arms around her to try to comfort her, and she leaned into his chest to let her as she continued to beg. Peter looked down to Phantom and he saw an emotion that he thought her would have never seen within her eyes: fear. He also noticed that both of her eyes were flickering from her old azure to the blood red that was recent. Phantom's hands drop to the front of his shirt, she gripped onto it for dear life, and whispered out one final plea, "Please."

Peter felt torn from what he wanted and what she wanted. He held her tight to try to comfort her and diminish her fear. "Okay. I will promise that I will not intervene with your plans. BUT I will not promise to completely stay away from you. I won't promise that I won't try to help you. I won't allow you to get swallowed up by the darkness of your mind. I will promise however that no matter what happens, no matter how bad things get, I will always accept you with open arms and heart, and that I will always be there for you and come after you when you've gone too far in the dark. I will live and die for you, just as I know, you would for me. No matter how far your mind goes, I'll be there to bring you home." Phantom nodded at his promise, and countered, "You might not say that after you see my work and what lingers in my mind." Peter felt confused by her counter, until she kissed his lips and connected their minds once again. Once she connected the minds, Peter felt all of her pain and anguish within her last month. The never-ending screams of men, women, and even children. The blood raining from the sky and within the ocean. The black and white scenery that appeared without a twinge of other colors besides the blood. Peter felt cuts, stabs, and pricks within his body all over, but saw no wounds. Although he gazed at Phantom, and saw many marks upon her body that he had never seen before. Her body was covered with dark scars all over her body. He relaxed into her kiss, until he heard the sound of a raspy cackling coming from a woman. Peter glanced around, until he saw a woman in the corner approaching them. She was a gorgeous woman who had to be within her fifties. She had very dark blonde hair, but she had a sophisticated beauty to her that came probably with her age. The trait that made Peter notice her were her two different colored eyes. One was a vibrant green, while the other was the same blood red that Phantom had within her eyes. The eyes held a crazed maniac look that seemed ready to do the completely unsuspected, or ready to kill anyone at any moment. The other thing that Peter noticed about the woman was that there was a giant scar around the woman's neck. Peter heard her cackling as she kept telling Phantom, "Kill him. Then kill Stark. Kill them… KILL THEM ALL!" Her voice was raspy but had Phantom's voice as an overtone at the same time.

Peter shuttered at seeing her, which Phantom felt, so she released his lips. She leaned her forehead against his and asked, "You saw her didn't you?" Peter looked her dead in the eye and asked, "Wh… who… who was that?" Peter glanced to where the woman was and when he didn't see her, he began to freak out. Phantom leaned her forehead against his to calm him down and she stated, "That was Apophis. She was my guild master long before I met you. The ring around her neck… is from when I decapitated her in order to leave my guild with Sun Wukong. Her spirit is haunting me in order to remind me of all of the horrible things that I have done. She is merging with my memories and conscious and soon she will devour me, and bring a red and bloody path. I won't be able to save you or anyone else when that happens. So, I'm sorry, Peter. This is goodbye." After she said that, Phantom placed something into Peter's hands, and then Peter's world went black. Phantom let the boy fall to the floor as she sucked up all of her emotions. She picked him up and took him home. After she put him into the bed, she tucked him in, made sure that the items she gave him was still within his hands, kissed his forehead, and whispered, "Goodbye, Peter. I'm sorry."

Phantom slipped out of Peter's room, drove to Stark Tower, and hacked into the security system before entering to make sure no one would interfere with her plan. After she was successful, she snuck into the building, and went to where she needed to go. She went into her lab, took all of special weapons, undeveloped inventions, and her special knife forged by vibranium and the metal from Loki's staff that took sitting with magma for a week for it to melt down. She designed the knife to bare the crest of Loki, Wakanda, and Asgard on the hilt so that she would remember where it came from. She went to her hidden floor safe, and grabbed her future energy sources that took her years to obtain. Shards from the Tesseract, shavings from the outer container of Vision's stone, and a red liquid that she extracted when she went on a diplomatic mission to Asgard. She put all of them within a special box that conceals the energy wavelengths. She put all of her items within a copter parked on the landing pad. After that, she went up to her apartment floor and she saw all of her stuff that Tony kept there. She went to the floorboard underneath the rug, lifted it up and saw that her small safe full of memories she preserved. She put it into a box, put in the address along with a lone letter, and placed it within Tony's room on his bed to test to see if he would send her message. Phantom went to where she stashed her weapons in the copter. She grabbed what she required from the copter, placed them into their secured and designated area. Once she was ready, she released her grip on the security system and allowed Tony to know about her being within the tower. She went to the main entertainment area and then to her favorite bar lounge, and made two glasses of scotch: one for her and one for her guest.

Tony received a message from Friday that the tower was intruded within the Tower and he knew immediately who it was. Charles Xavier called him after Phantom escaped from his facility. Xavier told him to be wary about Phantom since her powers splurged out and put some destruction on the school property. Xavier also told Tony that Phantom knows her father was alive and that she even met him face to face, and that was what made her powers surge. Tony knew that since Phantom knew, that she would also know that he knew since he was going to send her there to reunited with her father. Tony prepared for the worst scenario, just in case Phantom lashed out once again. Tony arrived to see Phantom sitting at the bar lounge with her back turned to him. She had two glasses of scotch prepared, one for her and one for another guest. Tony walked up slowly to her while he remained within the Iron Suit with a blaster pointed towards her. After he got close enough, he decided to sit down next to her. They both sat with total silence, even when she pulled off her mask to show her complete face. After her mask went down, Tony prepared for her lashing, but she only remained silent as she drank the scotch. "How long did you know?" Phantom asked while she watched the liquid stoically. Tony took the scotch within his hand and replied, "I found out about your connection after Ultron. I met Enrique after you destroyed your guild." Tony saw Phantom's eyebrow and right forefinger twitch at that statement. "Why didn't you tell me sooner?" Phantom asked with a faint layer of anger within her voice that made Tony shutter in fear. Tony took a moment to relax himself, then as soon as he was ready, he explained, "You're father wasn't ready for deep connections. He was stricken with grief. I originally wanted to make you both meet each other and grow and develop your relationship, but only when he was ready. Plus with your health and mental state…" After he said that, Phantom began to cackle at the man. She stood up while she kept cackling, until she yelled, "You know NOTHING about ME, my health, or MY mental stability."

She then downed the drink and then threw the glass against the wall. Tony saw her eyes changing from their old azure to blood red. The bloodied red was looking as if it was consuming the blue. Out of the blue, Phantom stopped her yelling as her eyes went blank, her arms dropped to her side, and she went to be motionless while standing like a mannequin. After a moment of his confusion, Tony went up on her, but as soon as he tried to touch her, he saw that her eyes dilated back to show that she was out of her focus state. The eyes then narrowed and a wicked grotesque smile grew on her face. She turned to him, then the eyes went to the coldest glare that he'd have ever seen. She moves away from his touch, grabbed the bottle of scotch, drained it onto the carpet, lit a match, set the carpet ablaze, and then went to the landing pad. As Tony put out the fire, he glanced over to see Phantom smirking while she proclaimed, "Consider this my resignation from the Avengers & desire to help others." Tony was confused until several explosions came from above him. Tony asked Friday what all was exploded, and Friday told him that it was only Phantom's floor that was destroyed. He glanced over to Phantom, but only saw that she was taking off in the copter. Tony began to fly after her, until Phantom saw and commanded, "FRIDAY, initiate protocol COLLEGE NAP." Tony suit then powered down without his authorization. He asked what was happening and FRIDAY told him over the tower speakers, "Sorry boss. The suit is to remain powered down until you have rested for an hour." Tony remembered that Phantom put these protocols in when she lived in the Tower, but never knew that they were still in effect. They were originally programmed to make sure that Tony took some breaks from his inventing and hero work, but Phantom was using it to make him unable to follow her.

* * *

Sun Wukong received a message from Phantom, who was missing and went AWOL. The message told him to meet her at the old Guild House. The message weirded him out, because they both knew that the Guild House was burnt to the ground because of both of them. Why she wanted to go back, he didn't know, but he knew that there was an incident at her new school from what Tony had told me. When Sunny arrived, he saw a bunch of slash marks against the ground, a giant bonfire blazing from cut down trees in the area. He saw Phantom moving around in a quick fit with a sinister smile on her face and her eyes were opened wide as if she had lost her mind:

[Phantom: What is this feeling

Of power and drive

I've never known?

I feel alive!

Where does this feeling,

Of power derive,

Making me know

Why I'm alive?

Like the night it's a secret,

Sinister, dark, and unknown,

I do not know what I seek,

Yet I'll seek it alone!

I have a thirst

That I cannot deprive,

Never have I felt so alive!

There is no battle

I couldn't survive-

Feeling like this-

Feeling alive!

Like the moon an enigma,

Lost and alone in the night

Damned by some heavenly stigma,

But blazing with light!

It's the feeling of being alive!

Filled with evil but truly alive!

It's the truth that cannot be denied!

It's the feeling of being

Losing my mind!]

In a moment, statues formed around Phantom in the shape of the fellow Avengers. Phantom went into the rubble and kept searching and searching until she found what she was looking for. She pulled out the two swords that Sun Wukong once feared while he was within the Guild: the swords of Apophis. Phantom unsheathed them, and they were just as Sunny remembered them. A black vibranium that had the design of a reaper etched into them. Phantom put the blade against her hand, and didn't apply any pressure, but the blade managed to cut her. Sunny ran up to her, tried to bandage her hand that was healing itself, and asked, "HAVE YOU LOST YOUR MIND?!" Phantom's crazed look turned to him and then she pivoted to statues of the Avengers. She dashed forward, removed her mask as she ran, and began to slice and dies them into pieces.

[Phantom: ANIMALS TRAPPED BEHIND THE BARS OF THE ZOO

NEED TO RAMPANT AND FREE!

PREDATORS LIVE ON THE PREY THEY PRESERVE

THIS TIME THE PREDATOR IS ME!]

After she destroyed them all into little tiny pieces, she scooped the gravel within her hand, allowed it be blown away by the wind.

[Phantom: Lost in a raging desire

Fills my soul with its curse

Burning with primitive fire

Berserk and perverse!]

Phantom shot her head to the sky and proclaimed to those who controlled her fate and challenged,

[Phantom: Tonight, I'll plunder heaven blind and steal from all the gods

Tonight, I'll take from all mankind and conquer all the odds

And I live on forever

With death herself by my side

And I'll show the world that now and forever

They'll never be able to separate the evil of you and I!

What a feeling to be so alive

I have never seen me to alive

Such a feeling of evil inside

That's the feeling of losing my mind

With this feeling of being alive

It's a truth that cannot be denied

There's no feeling like losing my mind!]

After looking as if she had a euphoric state, Sun Wukong to went over to Phantom barely touched her shoulder, she lost her euphoric look within her eyes, and then she looked at him without a sign of any emotions within her eyes. Sun shuttered at the look and asked, "Have you lost your mind? Why are we here? Let's just leave and go on some missions, just the two of us." Phantom gazed into his eyes and whispered cocky like, "No, I'm not going, but yes, I have lost my mind." Sun showed is surprised expression on his face and she continued on to explain, "Sunny, I lost my grip, but it has helped me to see so clearly. I can see where I went wrong in my life and what led to my mental demise. I see those in power who've slaughtered their way to get to where they are. Sunny, I want revenge and I want them all to pay. I want to obliterate the world, and build a new one with those who deserve it to be on top, I can't do it without my right hand monkey man. So what do you say: you with me against the world?" Phantom extended right bloodied hand out to Sun Wukong, who was puzzled at her request. On one hand, he knew that she needed help with her mental stability, but he has also sworn to himself that he would help her and be at her beck and call whenever she asked and not ask any questions. He showed her his unsure smile, but grabbed her bloodied hand to show that he was in. Phantom gave him a giant hugs as her thanks. Sun was surprised at the sudden contact, because she never hugged him in such a sudden fashion. He accepted her shown fondness by returning the hug.

They stood in their position, until they heard an unusual rustle within the trees. They both let go of each other, and Sunny prepared for a fight. Several men and women exited from the woods into the open area where Sun Wukong and Phantom were standing. Sun showed his suprasegment within his eyes, while Phantom kept her gaze at the people. Phantom pivoted her body, used her terra abilities to build a solid throne from the ashes, she strode to the chair, sat, and crossed her legs while she kept her stoic expression and crazed eyes to make her claim to others. Phantom leaned her head onto her left hand which was on the arm of the throne as she proclaimed, "Gentlemen and Ladies, welcome to the Kireyes Guild. I'm Phantom, the NEW Guild Master." All of the people in the front line unsheathed their weapons, drew them to her as soon as she proclaimed them. Sun Wukong stepped in front of her with his own staff, ready to defend her. The largest man went forward in order to defy Phantom. He was large, had the mix of different animals for his form. He had multi antlers with orange leaves within the edges, scales along his arms, bones around his torso surrounding an eye, a fox boned head, and smoothen legs that consisted of red, yellow, and orange colors. He took off one of the antlers from his head, which immediately grew back. He presented the weapon in Phantom's direction and stated, "You are not the Guild Master, you are only the murderer of Apophis, which-" Phantom raised her hand to stop him as she countered, "Which makes me the rightful Guild Master of the Kireyes, according to the rules of the original Guild Masters. By killing the old one in a fair battle, I assume the role since I was the strongest-willed one. Since I never disbanded the guild, I am still a Guild Master. Now, drop your weapons, and we will have a Guild Master's meeting. I would also appreciate if you would put your weapon away, Goetia."

No one dropped their weapons, but a giant round table with stone chairs emerged from the ground while they moved so Phantom's chair remained in its position. Each chair held its own crest, so that each Guild Master would know where to sit. None of them moved from their position , until Sun Wukong pencil dropped his staff onto the ground which created several cracks, so one of the warriors from the guild with the mix creature guild master stood next to the chair. All of the other people from the Guild stood at their designated spots while the Guild Masters sat within their seats. The first Guild were the Kireyes, who specialized in Death related missions and gaze names of death apparitions, except for Sun Wukong, who was won from the Onocentaurus when he was young. The seat next to Phantom had the sign of the Trinity as their Guild symbol. The symbol was that of three triangle leaves connecting. There were called the "Yavene-Yam" or rescuers in Hebrew. Each of their member name were those of angels. The next guild was the Onocentaurus, or the "Monster" in derived form in Latin. They were known as beast-type mutants or enhanced Guild members who were named after monster/beast within various mythologies. There symbol what that of a red outline of a sabertooth tiger. Next were human based mutants who had abilities similar to those with Greek Mythology. They were named the Olympians and named after the Olympian Gods. Their symbol was a black laurel wreath crown that showed the ring. Following the Olympians were the Pharaohs, who were human animal hybrids that specialized using their animal like abilities to complete missions. They were named either after Pharaohs or Egyptian mythological creatures. Their symbol was a blue scarab beetle that had blue wings, an ankh on its base, and a golden circle above it. Then there were Bai Lianhua, or the White Lotus, who were mercenaries that specialized with Military Assistant/Teaching Strategies. They were named after the Oriental Mythology. Their symbol was within the English translation, a white lotus outline. Next were the Heroes. They were the Government warriors for hire, that only assisted countries if they deemed them worthy or their cause worthy. They named all of their mercenaries after ancient real heroes throughout history. Their symbol that of a special winged creature that contained a sword as the base. Finally there were the Strength. They were named after the knights of the round. What made them special was that they were normal people who practiced and trained as hard as they could to keep up with the enhanced mercenaries while keeping their normalcy. Their symbol was a circle cut into twelve slices with a different shield and symbol in each slice.

Once all of the Guild Masters were within their seat, Phantom glances around with her crazed gaze and stoic expression to all of the guests and stated, "welcome everyone. I have assembled us together to talk about the common threat that has caused us problems since our formations. We are restricted by the governments and leaders who believe that they are untouchable to us. We have proven them wrong by the small amounts by adding a middleman to pay us and then we can rule from the inside. I'd say we have been running around in circles with this process. With new politicians coming to pass everyday, and new openly minded 'I'm not going to back down' types, we repeat the exact same process over and over again. I want us to gain the control fully and not have to answer to some asshole or bitch just because they possess money." The creature Goetia leaned forward from his seat and asked, "What exactly are you propositioning to us, Phantom?" As soon as he asked that, Phantom rose to her feet, a crazed smile grew on her face that showed her teeth, which freaked everyone out since they never saw her full face before. Phantom jumped onto the giant table, responded, "I'm soooooooo glad that you asked." Phantom created several statues that resembled the Avengers and political leaders such as Secretary Ross. No one understood why, but Phantom just busted out singing:

[Phantom: There's a great black whole, like a great black pit

And it's filled with people who are filled with shit

And the vermin of the world inhabit it

But not for long

They all deserve to die

Tell you why, mercenaries, tell you why

Because in all of the whole human race mercenaries

There are two kinds of men, only two

There is one staying put in his proper place

And the one has his foot in the other one's face

Look at me, mercenaries, look at you

Thought we all deserve to die

Even, you mercenaries, even I

Because the live of the wicked should made brief

For the rest of us, death will be a relief

We all deserve to die! FINISHED!]

Phantom drew her blade, which alarmed all of the Guild Masters, but as soon as she slashed the statue of Ross in haft, they knew that they weren't in any danger. Phantom turned her attention to the other statues of the Avengers and addressed them as she continued to sing and confused the Guild members. She turned her attention to Tony first, then Wanda, and finally Steve.

[Alright you sir, how about a shave?

Come and visit your good friend Phantom

You, girl, too girl

Welcome to the grave

I will have vengeance

I will have salvation

Who sir? You, sir?

No one's in the chair!

Come on, COME ON!

Phantom's waiting

I want you bleeders

You sir, ANYBODY!

Not one man, no not ten men

Nor a hundred can assuage me

I will have you

And I will get them back even as they gloat

In the meantime I'll practice on less honourable throats]

After Phantom slashed all of the statues, she fell to her knees, scooped up some of the dust from the statue residue, looked at it with mourning in her eyes, then it quickly went to happy as she finished:

[And my family lie in ashes

And I'll never see them ever again

But the world waits

I'm alive at last

AND I'M FULL OF JOY!]

All of the Guild members, except for Goetia, looked around disturbingly from Phantom's abrupt singing while Goetia leaned forward and asked, "What exactly are you saying, Phantom?" The euphoric look on Phantom's face dropped, as she glanced at him with a look of sarcasm as if she was asking, "Really," with her eyes. She jumped off of the table, sat on the table and expressed herself by waving her hands in expression:

[The world is a place

where the villains wear a smile on their face

While they take what you can never replace

Stolen moments gone forever

But tables can turn

As my enemies will soon enough learn

I will strike a match and then watch them burn

On the pyre of obsession

They run 'till they drop, chasing an advantage

They'll pay any price if they think it's free

I will carry hell to your doorstep; I will make you pay

You will reap the hate you've sown on my judgment day

Sleepless nights and days of damnation

Soon and evermore

I will bring the Chateau D'If knocking upon your door]

Three statues then came the ground, one of Steve Rogers, one of Tony Stark, and finally the one of her father: Enrique Rios. Phantom turned to them and sang to them:

[And love is a lie swearing that no matter what it won't die

Disappearing like a star in the sky

In the hot light of morning

But what do I care?

There are women to be had everywhere

First there's retribution I must prepare

Mighty vengeance is mine

I have a nice show that will tempt you onward

And just when you're sure that the prize is yours

I'll deliver hell to your doorstep dressed in rich facade

Then, I'll burn you to the ground like an angry god

Once you're in my shining cathedral heed the tolling bell

It's the final sound you hear as you descend to hell

Fall down on your knees

Fall down and let me hear you pray

Fall down on your knees

'till I can hear you bargaining, scheming,

begging and screaming to me

I will carry hell to your doorstep; you will rue the day

You will reap the hate you've sown

no matter how hard you pray

It's a place without any mercy, fashioned in cold blood

Stones of fear and stones of doubt

No forgiveness, no way out

Only justice

Then, amen!]

As soon as she screamed "amen," the entire ground began to shake and the statues shattered. Goetia understood that Phantom was angry and that she desired vengeance against any and everyone. He knew that the government sent a hit on her family and even covered it up afterwards. Even her fellow Avengers knew the secret and didn't even tell her, so once she realized that she was the last one to know. It was understandable that she was upset, but there was one thing that puzzled him, so he asked, "Since you have a basic idea about what you want to happen, why ask us and not your fellow Avengers, or the Ex-Avengers?" Phantom turned to him with excitement and sang once again with no music, but with a crazed look:

[I've been exiled, persecuted

Left alone with no defense

When I think of what that brutes did

I get a little tense

But I dream a dream so pretty

That I don't feel so depressed

'Cause it soothes my inner kitty

And it helps me get some rest

The sound of Avengers dying gasp

Armies squealing in my grasp

Their soldiers' mournful cries

That's my lullaby

Now the past I've tried forgetting

And my foes I could forgive

Trouble is, I knows it's petty

But I hate to let them live]

Sun Wukong stepped forward and sang with her to show his support, but wanting to contradict her methods:

{[SUN]

So you found yourself somebody

Who'd chase the Avengers up a tree?

[PHANTOM]

Oh, the battle may be bloody

But that kind of works for me

The melody of angry growls

A counterpoint of painful howls

A symphony of death, oh my

That's my lullaby

Apophis is gone but I'm still around

To teach our little lads

Till they learn to be a killers

With a lust for being bad]

Two of the Guild Master sung fom their seat, wishing to understand Phantom further. They were Izanagi, leader of Bai Lingua, Charmeine, leader of Yavene-Yam, Goetia, the leader of the Onocentaurus:

{[IZANAGI]

Sleep, little termites

I mean, precious little things

[CHARMEINE]

Then that day when we're big and strong?

[PHANTOM]

We will be kings

The pounding of the drums of war

The thrill of our Pack's mighty roar

[IZANAGI]

The joy of vengeance

[GOETIA]

Testify

[PHANTOM]

I can hear us cheering

[CHARMEINE, GOETIA, IZANAGI]

Mercenaries, restarting ways of lives

[PHANTOM]

Payback time is nearing

And then our flags will fly

Against a blood-red sky

All: That's my lullaby]

Phantom cackled at the end of the song that everyone joined in to either not anger her, or to show that they were on board. The only ones who were still on the fence were the Yavene-Yam, the Heroes and the Strengths. Phantom expected that of them. She knew that Yavene-Yam were the ones that she had to persuade the most, but she didn't expect the Heroes and the Strengths to give as much trouble. Both of the guild masters appreciated her and they worked with her many times before. She did understand their positions, especially since the Strengths were a large country armies based group. She sat down in her seat and she explained, "I understand that some of you have some… reserves about joining this group, so allow me to explain. I chose your guilds because you are the best at what you do. Goetia, I chose your guild because of your beast type members. You are the best trackers that I have ever seen as well as your animalistic tendencies give your guild an edge in any fight and situation, while also give you disadvantages that I would love to cure or resolve while involve your abilities. Charmeine, I understand your desire to heal the world, but you can't change the world without losing a few lives. I want your guild to heal those who don't deserve to pay the price of those who deserve what they get. I want you to heal the people, but as for what we do otherwise, you do not need to participate. I won't make you do anything that you're not comfortable with, other than the Alpha Omni protocol, which is to benefit the world by protecting a weapon stronger than anything else I've ever seen. I just want to heal or save someone, that's all, nothing more. Orion, your guild is enhanced individuals who are great at using their abilities, but lack with the espionage and… other qualities to be a mercenary. I want to help you guys while expanding on your gifts. The same goes to you as well, Amun, Chaos, and Izanagi. While I admire all of your powers, you're not as polished as other mercenary guilds. Hessian Lobo, your guild is some of the best mercenaries that I have ever seen. While your skills are fantastic, when it comes to modern times,, you guys need to learn to enhance your abilities more to keep up. I know for example, the Exvengers were able to stop you during an assignment about three months ago. If you would allow me, I can tell you every weakness that ALL enhanced people possess and I would enhance you all to compete with others on an equal level."

"On the opposite spectrum, Gawain, I understand that the Strengths are proud of you success without being enhanced and through hard work, but the world is changing. I'm not asking you to change, but to associate and work with enhanced individuals. Your fighting styles are the best I have ever witnessed, and your loyalty astounds me. I desire that loyalty and if you allow me, I will go to the ends of the world to help all of you. I lost all loyalty from those who stood by my side these past couple of years, except for two individuals. One who is young high school boy and the other-" Phantom reached up, gently grabbed Sun Wukong's hand, and continued as she looked at him, "Is my best friend, Sun Wukong." Everyone watched as the two gazed into each other's eyes, until Phantom went back to addressing the Guild Masters, "I want this same loyalty from others in my life. Not exactly like Sun Wukong's and mine, but more of a familial type. No secrets, no lies, and we support one another, no matter how bad things get." All of the Guild Masters looked at her with suspicion, until Hessian Lobo asked, "How exactly to do you want us to complete our mission?" Phantom smirked at him and began to sing:

{[PHANTOM]

I know that your powers of retention

Are as wet as a warthog's backside

But thick as you are, pay attention

My words are a matter of pride

It's clear from your vacant expressions

The lights are not all on upstairs

But we're talking kings and successions

Even you can't be caught unawares

So prepare for a chance of a lifetime

Be prepared for sensational news

A shining new era

Is tiptoeing nearer

[IZANAGI]

And where do we feature?

[PHANTOM]

Just listen to teacher!

I know it sounds sordid

But you'll be rewarded

When at last I am given my dues

And injustice deliciously squared

Be prepared!

[IZANAGI, spoken]

Yeah! Be prepared. We'll be prepared. For what?

[PHANTOM, spoken]

For the death of kings!

[IZANAGI, spoken]

Are they sick?

[PHANTOM, spoken]

No, fool! We're going to kill them... and heirs too!

[CHAOS, spoken]

Great idea! Who needs a king?

[CHAOS, IZANAGI, spoken]

No king! No king! La la la la la la!

[PHANTOM, spoken]

Idiots! There will be kings!

[IZANAGI, spoken]

But you said...

[PHANTOM, spoken]

WE will be kings! Stick with me, and you'll never go hungry again!

[IZANAGI, CHAOS: spoken]

Yay, all right! Long live the king! Long live the king!

[MERCENARIES]

It's great that we'll soon be connected

With a king who'll be all-time adored

[PHANTOM]

Of course, quid pro quo, you're expected

To take certain duties on board

The future is littered with prizes

And though I'm the main addressee

The point that I must emphasize is

You won't get a sniff without me!

[MERCENARIES, PHANTOM]

So prepare for the coup of the century

[PHANTOM]

Be prepared for the murkiest scam

Meticulous planning

Tenacity spanning

Decades of denial

Is simply why I'll

[MERCENARIES]

Ooo!

We'll have food!

Lots of food

We repeat

Endless meat

[PHANTOMS]

Be kings undisputed

Respected, saluted

And seen for the wonder I am

Yes, my teeth and ambitions are bared

[PHANTOM, MERCENARIES]

Be prepared!

Yes, our teeth and ambitions are bared

Be prepared!}

Everyone remained quiet until Goetia leaned forward and asked, "What exactly is in it for us? I know that we are taking out the monarchies and establishing us as rulers, but how exactly are we going to go on about this? It's not like the people are just going to accept us." Phantom leaned forward and stated, "That's why we need a patsy. Which will be me. You all will work with me, but I will be seen as the villain while you all act as 'helpers,' fixing what I am breaking. While all this is happening, we will be controlling and manipulating the ropes."

{[PHANTOM]

We are friends, are we not?

[CHAOS]

And our interests are the same

[IZANAGI]

We collaborate

[CHAOS]

And trust in fate

To parcel out the blame

[PHANTOM]

There are ends we've all got that can justify the means

[CHAOS]

We negotiate

[IZANAGI]

Then fabricate the facts behind the scenes

[PHANTOM]

Keeping all the details vague and secrets hidden

[CHAOS]

Safe in the balanced sheet [?] of those you trust

Because history is a story told by the winners of the fight

You imply a little

[PHANTOM]

Lie a little

[IZANAGI]

Testify and try a little sailor

[PHANTOM]

Who's gonna question what goes on

in the middle of the night?

Not a tinker

[CHAOS]

Not a tailor

[PHANTOM]

Not an Avenger nor a cop

[IZANAGI]

Or a jailer

[PHANTOM]

So we all are agreed

Let's be vigilant and wise

[CHAOS]

We must all pretend our naïve friend

Was caught in his own lies

For our plan to succeed

we must share but one belief

Edmond Dantès stays and ends his days

Inside the Chateau d'If

[PHANTOM]

Where the softest things he'll touch are stones and darkness

Deep in a craggy isle in dungeon's keep

[IZANAGI]

Because history's a story told by the men who make the laws

[CHAOS]

We supply a little lie

[PHANTOM]

To help the gullible to buy a little fable

[IZANAGI]

What will become of the righteous men who fashions Dantès' flaws?

[CHAOS]

The rich

[IZANAGI]

And well respected

{[PHANTOM]

Are no more to be rejected at our table}

Phantom turned her attention to Sun Wukong. She handed him a large stack of files with paperwork, knives, and quills. Told him to tell the council to sign with blood, and sung quietly to him, while the others discussed with each other.

{[PHANTOM]

He'll be a comfort in their time of grief and anguish

He'll be peoples' ever faithful acolyte

Every night}

Phantom turned her attention back to the council and continued:

{[PHANTOM]

And part of me wishes the Avengers didn't have to languish

But I can see it's them or me

[CHAOS]

Let them sit there and rot until they've forgot

[PHANTOM]

Let them rot!

[All]

History's a story told by the people who survive

[IZANAGI]

Let me sign and then initial

[CHAOS]

It's the truth if it's officially the story

[PHANTOM]

What if it costs us one young man so three more men can survive?

[IZANAGI]

They're a price we have to pay

[PHANTOM]

To live and fight another day for love and glory

[CHAOS]

They were standing in the way

A threat to justice in the world

[IZANAGI]

So goes the story!

[PHANTOM]

Stick to the story!

[All]

Here ends the story!}

Everyone gazed around each other in excitement about the journey they were all about to embark, until Gawain asked, "If we fight on the battlefield, where are you going to be?" Phantom smirked at him and replied, "On the front lines next to my allies. I won't ask you to give your life for our cause, and not expect me to give mine. We are all to be in this together or not at all. And to show you my loyalty, I had these made and prepared." Phantom raised her hand up, a box of items came up to her, and she pulled out a knife and hot branding iron. The branding iron had the symbol of the Yavene-Yam. Phantom lifted the knife to her right side torso, and she carved the insignia in, but not enough to kill her. Everyone watched in either astonishment or like Phantom was crazy. Sun Wukong watched her with a petrified expression, because she looked as if she wasn't in any pain yet, blood was draining out of her side. After she finished carving, she put the knife down, picked up the branding iron, and put the iron within the fire pit. She heated up the branding iron with her abilities, picked it up, and branded it into the wound she carved without even flinching in pain. After she sealed up the wound with burning scars, she placed down the iron, picked up the knife and began to carve another wound, but the symbol of the Heroes on her left bicep. She picked up another branding iron, branded over the wound, and carved the Bai Lianhua sign into her right thigh. She continued to carve and brand over all of the symbols of each Guild that was present as a sign of her loyalty. Each guild had one spot on her body to make their claim to her. The Heroes were on her left bicep, the Bai Lianhua on her right thigh, the Pharaohs on her right forearm, The Olympians on her right bicep, the Onocentaurus on her left calf, the Knights into her left forearm, and the Kireyes onto the center of her chest. She grabbed the knife one last time, much to everyone's confusion, and made her final carving into the right side of her neck. After she finished, everyone saw that it was a symbol that no one recognized except for her and Sunny. It was seven needles all touching one another without touching any of the others, with the except of the one in the center. "This will be the symbol of our loyalty to one another. This will be the insignia for The Pack. Each line represents one of your guilds. Since the Kireyes only consist of Sun Wukong and I, we will be known as part of the Onocentaurus Guild, but we will not act as your guild members. Otherwise you and I will have a Agni Kai, Goetia. Since I branded myself, I expect the same loyalty as my partners. You only need the brand that is on her neck, no others." At the end of her statement, she had Sunny pass out all of the separate knives and branding irons. It took a moment, but everyone of them carved and branded the Pack insignia on themselves. Phantom smiled at their loyalty, sat down, and then they began to discuss what their plans were.

* * *

It took of planning and preparing, but on the day of enacting their plan, Phantom was within her quarters, dressing and mentally preparing herself for what was about to come. Sun Wukong came into her quarters and saw that she hut her hair to a small bob cut, probably to show off the carving of the Pack onto her neck. He saw the uncertainty within her eyes, and he believed that he could possibly talk her out of the degradation of her own name. "You don't have to do this, you know. You can walk away now, and no one would know. We can just run away. You don't have to take revenge this way. We can find another way. This will be pretty low, even for you." Phantom took off her old mask, threw it into the trash can, and began to sing without any music:

{[PHANTOM}

Believe me, I know

I've sunk pretty low

And whatever I've done, they've deserved

[SUN]

Victoria…

[PHANTOM]

QUIET! I'm the bad guy, that's fine

Causes it's not fault of mine

And justice at last will be served

[SUN]

Please listen

[PHANTOM]

Now it's time to step up

Or it's time to back down

And there's only one answer for me

So I'll stand up and fight

Cause I know that I'm right

And I'm ready, I'm ready, I'm Ready

READY AS I'LL EVER BE}

Phantom went out of her room into the assembly area as she proceeded to put on her new mask. When all of the Pack acknowledged her, she belted out to ask them, while withdrawing the sword of Apophis:

{[PHANTOM]

Now it's time to rise up

Or it's time to stand down

And the answer is easy to see

And I swear by her sword

If you're in get on board

Are you ready?

[GOETIA]

I'm ready

[PACK]

We're ready

[PHANTOM]

Ready as I'll ever be}

Sun Wukong slowly approached Phantom and whispered/sang in her eye, while Phantom grabbed his hand to assure him, then belting out to the Pack who were moving out for the danger to come:

{[SUNNY]

Are you quite sure you can do this?

[PHANTOM]

Together we will, guarantee

I'LL MAKE THEM HEAR ME!

[MERCENARIES]

Now it's time to redeem

Or it's time to resolve

[SUNNY]

So she can trust me

[MERCENARIES]

And the outcome will hardly come free

[PHANTOM]

I'll save my home and family

[MERCENARIES]

Now the line's in the sand

And our moment's at hand

[GOETIA]

And I'm ready

[SUNNY]

I'm ready

[All]

I'm ready

[PHANTOM]

Ready as I'll ever be}

Then all of the light bulbs broke from the intensity that the Pack excreted, when all of the lights broke and the darkness enveloped the room, the only thing anyone could have possibly seen was the exit and the glowing hatred coming from Phantom's blood eyes.

* * *

AN: I do not own anything, except for Phantom, Sun Wukong, and the Pack and members. YAY I'm done! I will be honest. I'm getting lazy and I do have a written account of what I want to happen in the next chapter and a little bit of IW. I will have no wifi until Wednesday, so I will be typing as much as I possibly can until then, and hopefully if I get all my work finished, I can have the next chapter loaded then. Side note, I'm sorry that there was a a dark turn in this chapter, but I wanted to expression what brought Phantom to where she was. If it was triggering to you, again, I apologize.

What is Phantom and the Pack goin to do? How will the Avengers act with her plans? Will anyone be able to stop them? FIND OUT IN THE NEXT CHAPTER! THANKS FOR READING!

* * *

Springs: images/search?view=detailV2&ccid=O7wSv5o4&id=1EDBA1505B5565DA92A359A5EFEAEC257CE3AB7C&thid=OIP.O7wSv5o4KhP1l37BK9wo3AHaHa&mediaurl=https% .com% &exph=736&expw=736&q=Anime+Elemental+Symbols&simid=608000151428073122&selectedIndex=4&ajaxhist=0

Goetia: wiki/Beast_I

Trinity: search?q=trinity&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjL6Jy9np3eAhVq2IMKHWK6CPsQ_AUIDigB&biw=671&bih=583#imgrc=6UJrVUG5boGsLM

Beast Symbol: search?q=beast+symbols&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiOjP2Knp3eAhWk7IMKHYdZBCgQ_AUIDigB&biw=671&bih=583#imgrc=O2BxojBifTAGkM

Olympian Symbol: search?biw=646&bih=583&tbm=isch&sa=1&ei=FMTPW_eIEsHBjgSL9pGIAQ&q=olympian+symbols&oq=olympian+symbols&gs_l=img.3..0j0i5i30l2j0i8i30.1663.1663..2422...0.0...0...1.. _EwkP7IyM#imgrc=G7uPTPc8YQsDwM

Pharaohs Symbol: search?biw=646&bih=583&tbm=isch&sa=1&ei=F8TPW92-KKX4jwTW36b4Cg&q=egyptian+symbols&oq=egyptian+symbols&gs_l=img.3..0l4j0i67j0l5.109196.114410..114731...4.0...0...1..gws-wiz-img... #imgrc=5Ceo4WVD74zHCM

Bai Lianhua Symbol: search?biw=646&bih=583&tbm=isch&sa=1&ei=i8TPW53lDcvYjwTa6LL4AQ&q=white+lotus+symbols&oq=white+lotus+symbols&gs_l=img.3...275686.277121..277332...0.0...0...1..gws-wiz-img... _s9y32M6o#imgrc=0pR1c9XX8lCBYM

Heroes Symbol: search?q=hakuno+kishinami+command+seal&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiU6NvL9Z3eAhXr5IMKHf_bDgYQ_AUIDigB&biw=673&bih=583#imgrc=CEfW_9CQNOQ7zM

Pack Symbol: search?q=black+knights+symbol&tbm=isch&source=iu&ictx=1&fir=3cCtNp-0mnp0OM_IQNkfZpaiUtM_&usg=AI4_-kTnkm179xIU0aZUspvj1-Ui_tlDA&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwj_oODp08feAhUHzIMKHUrRALsQ9QEwAXoECAAQBg#imgrc=3cCtNp-0mnp0OM:

Phantom's New Mask: search?biw=646&bih=578&tbm=isch&sa=1&ei=uMvlW8mEJMzOjwTb05vQCw&q=haft+mask&oq=haft+mask&gs_l=img.3..0i10i24.12598.20457..20735...4.0..0.256.1818.8j3j3...0...1..gws-wiz-img... 8FF2-U4c#imgdii=wXH1uE3szrK2lM:&imgrc=qZsXchwDbZbOfM:


	14. Making An Army

All was calm within New York City. There wasn't a cloud within the clear azure sky. The streets weren't as noisy as they usual were. People seemed to smile and not yell as much as they usual did within New York City. There was one building with a bunch of hustle and bustle within and around the building, and that was the United Nations Center. There was to be Grand Meeting about the Avengers and the positions of Phantom and Spiderman. Many were concerned because Phantom hadn't been seen by many people within the past couple of months and Spiderman was finally recognized by Ironman, but nothing about him was said to be connected to the Avengers.

Phantom walked into the giant conference room within a complete robe with a hood that covered her face all the way down to her feet. The robe even had sleeves that went past her hands and extended to her knees when her hands were at her side. Nothing was to be able to seen, not even her neck nor eyes. Phantom just stood to the right of the stage not interacting with anyone else. "Phantom. How decided to join us," T'Challa stated as he walked up to her. Phantom nodded through her hood as he continued. "I wish to discuss what happened in Wakanda a couple of months ago. I understand that you were in a dark place, and I did not banish you, so if you are willing, I would like to discuss your future…" Phantom interrupted him in his mid-statement, "Don't worry about my future. You will understand me and what lies in my future after today." After she stated that, she went to her seat on the stage next to where Spiderman was going to sit.

The meeting started due to the starting time without Spiderman or the Avengers showing up to plea their cases to the United Nations. The only ones who were there were T'Challa and Phantom. T'Challa pled that his situation was due to the Wakandan Tradition forbidding them to talk about the Black Panther. When Phantom rose to the stand, the Chairman of the UN began, "Miss Stark-" She only raised her hand to stop him and requested, "Call me Phantom." The Chairman was surprised by her abrupt request, but he nodded his head and continued, "Phantom, what do you have to say about the current situation of our world and the supers appearing from everywhere?" Phantom took a deep breath and replied with a monotone voice, "All men are not created equal. Some are born swifter afoot, some with greater beauty. Some are born into poverty; and others are born sick and feeble. Both in birth and in upbringing, in sheer scope of ability, every human is inherently different! Yes, that is why people discriminate against one another, which is why there is struggle, competition, and the unfaltering march of progress! Inequality is not wrong, equality is! What of the UN who made equality a right? Rabble politics by a popularity contest. We fight, we compete; evolution is continuous! Advanced alone moves forward; advancing steadily into the future. Even the death of my father, Enrique, demonstrates The World's unswerving denial to progress! We will fight on, we shall struggle, compete, plunder, and dominate and in the end the future shall be ours." All of the people within the room remained quiet. Phantom sighed, made a gesture, and continued, "People! Fear us, or rally behind us as you see fit! We are The Pack! We of The Pack stand with all those who have no weapons to wield…regardless of whether they be Advanced or not! The UN cowardly took innocent advanced people hostage, and they mercilessly executed them, as they did my own family when I was only ten years old! It was a wanton and meaningless act; therefore, they have been punished just as former Avengers were punished for continuing the slaughter of countless unarmed Africans. We cannot stand by and allow such cruelty to be carried out, and so we made them pay for their actions. I will not repudiate battle on a fair and level field, but neither will I tolerate a one-sided massacre of the weak by the strong. The only ones who should kill are those who are prepared to be killed! Wherever oppressors abuse their power by attacking those who are powerless, we shall appear again, no matter how mighty or formidable our foe may be! Those of you with power, fear us! Those of you without it, rally behind us! We, The Pack, shall be the ones who stand in judgment of this world!" T'Challa stood up at her proclaimation and asked, "Phantom why are you saying this?" Music erupted from the speakers and Phantom sang:

{I see a cold wind blowing through

I see days neither fun nor free

I see a future caused by you

I see a path not meant to be

The future should be filled with freedom

Dreams and wishes brought to life

but the days ahead are dark and tragic

No time for hope when all is strife

whatever might have been

All the dreams that people shared

Because of you, World Council

Then the future wans a cold nightmare}

After she sang, she began to strip off her robes and everyone saw what exactly she had on underneath. She had only a black and red sweetheart bustier along with black shorts with red sides. She also had on black leather boots that went up slightly above her knees. She had on her standard shackles on her wrist along with a new mask that no one in the world knew of except for those within the Pack. The thing that established her outfit was a giant black cape that had red interior and a giant symbol of the Pack in red and silver. Phantom unsheathed a sword that she had concealed with the robe along with a gun that was made from bamboo, so it would allow her to pass through the alarms without being detected as well as the Vibranium swords she had. Phantom gazed over to one older gentleman who she knew from her father's case file. "Before creation there must be destruction. If my soul stands in the way, then I'll toss it aside. Yes, I have no choice but to move forward," after she stated that, Phantom's body vanished in a split second, appeared in front of the man who she glared at, and decapitated him while shooting him in his heart.

After that another song, " _The Point of No Return " by **Starset**_ , blared from the speakers and purple smoke came rushing in from the vents and vases surrounding the area. Screams erupt from the room and then several members of the Pack came from the back and the exits while breaking the doors to secure that they would never open again so that no one from the UN could escape. Each of the members of the Pack attacked the members of the United Nation, killing any and everyone. T'Challa suit took over his body as he ran forward, dodging all of the attacks of the over mercenaries. Once he reached Phantom, who was massacring a small group of third world country delegates, he stopped her blade with his arm, only to see that it cut through his suit to show him that Phantom's sword blades were vibranium. As he held her blade back, he yelled out to her, "Phantom, what are you doing? You need to stop this madness." Phantom kept her blade in its position, until she lifted her leg and kicked him away, while she yelled, "STAY OUT OF THIS!" After T'Challa was pushed away, he was kept away be a woman with extremely pale skin, a very revealing black leotard, and two giant ram horns coming out of her head. She had pointy ears and long white hair that went all of the way down to her feet. "I will be your opponent, my name is Tiamat," the young mercenary challenged. Okoye swooped in to help assist T'Challa against the girl. What surprised both of them, but none of the other Pack Members, was that Tiamat was holding her own against the two. All of the Pack Members knew of Tiamat. She was the right hand woman of Goetia and the one of the absolute best mercenary of them all as well as one of the best in history. The woman managed to hold her own and hurt Okoye and T'Challa, but nothing to serious, which everyone knew was a command directly from Phantom.

The battle raged on, even to point where very few survivors were standing, and everything was going to plan, even as Iron Man showed up. Tony gazed upon the scene that made him want to throw up. Countless of people were dead, from gunshot wounds, stabs, burns, and even decapitation. Tony saw Phantom decapitating another man who was pleading for his life. Tony pointed his blaster at her and ordered, "Phantom shut this down, and turn yourselves in now." Phantom pointed her gun at another UN member who was trying to escape and shot him directly while responding, "Make me." The song changed to "In The End" by Linkin Park. Phantom put her gun into her holster, raised her hand up, and motioned for Tony to attack her. Tony blasted himself forward and Phantom and him squared up. No matter what he could muster up, he could never land a hit on Phantom because deep down he really didn't want to. Phantom on the other hand was using her vibranium swords to cut through Tony's suit while slicing him up a bit. It wasn't until Phantom sliced one of the boots to ruin the thruster to throw him off of his balance. After his balance was thrown off, Phantom sliced his other boot to ruin the other boot. Tony lurched forward due to lost of momentum, and Phantom stabbed him through his torso, careful to avoid any serious damage, such as arteries and organs. Tony fell to the ground as Phantom pulled out her sword, and whistled loudly as a signal. Several mercenaries came forward and held Tony down. Tony turned his head to see that Sun Wukong was the one holding him by his neck. "Why," Tony asked in a raspy voice, only to have Sun Wukong completely ignore him by Sun Wukong staring at Phantom. Phantom placed several circular objects around Tony, pushed a button on a remote that she had, which activated the circular devices to release a green energy that destabilized Tony's nanotech and left Tony's body without an armor. "You remember the Gefjon Destributor, right Stark?" Phantom asked in a chillingly sweet voice. Phantom grabbed a knife and instructed one of the mercenaries to hold Tony's arm down. Phantom grabbed the knife, and engraved a symbol into Tony's arm on the inside near his elbow. The symbol looked to be an A6 with several items in the middle of it. Tony yelled, hollered, and thrashed around in pain as Phantom continued. After she finished, she took out a branding iron with the exact same sized symbol, and yelled, "Goetia, I need this heated up." Goetia spit fire to the iron which caused it to heat it enough for it to turn red. Phantom positioned the branding iron above Tony's engraved wound and branded over the wound as Tony screamed out from the pain. "This is so that the wound will never fade away and you will never forget what you have done," Phantom stated in a monotone voice. After she got done branding him, she handed the iron to Goetia, then took out a red syringe needle with clear liquid within in, and injected Tony. "This liquid contains nanotech that helps me track you while it can also stop your heart need be." After she finished, Tony gazed up to meet her eyes and what he saw, disturbed him. Her eyes glistened blood red and a giant wicked smile on her face as she proclaimed, "One down, twelve more to go."

Phantom pivoted her body away from Tony and towards the other members of the Pack and yelled out, "Omnis licet. Hoc involvent est. Aliquam Tempus enim tribus!" All of the Pack Members finished off whoever they were killing, dragged T'Challa and Okoye out of the building, and jumped out through the broken windows to flee as Phantom kneeled down and whispered to the pain-induced hero, "This is just the beginning." She follows after her group while activating the Stark Hadron Cannon to obliterate and bring the building down to be on top of Tony. After suffering in the debris, Tony felt the weight of the rubble lighten. Tony looked through to see that Peter was the one digging him out. "Hang on Mr. Stark. The ambulance is down the way ready to take you to the hospital. Just hold on." Peter pulled Tony out, carried him down to the ground floor, and the ambulance took Tony on the gurney. As the ambulance took Tony to the car on the gurney, Tony stared into a dark black alley to see a pair of glowing red eyes glaring back at him. As he and red eyes locked, he whispered through his oxygen mask, "Why," and blacked out.

Tony woken to see a pure white room surrounding him. Much to his confusion, he glanced around, only to see Peter rise from his seat to check on the injured man, "Mr. Stark are you okay? How are you feeling?" Tony didn't answer the young boy, but continued to look around while asking him what happened. It wasn't until he saw the blood pouch that reminded him of the blood red eyes that glared at him before he passed out. Peter noticed Tony's eyes and begged from him, "Please tell me that they all are wrong. Please tell me that it wasn't her. Please tell that Victoria didn't do this." Tony didn't meet the young boys pleading eyes and asked, "What do you know about that day?"

* * *

 _FLASHBACK_

Peter and his classmates were getting ready to go to the United Nations meeting. Peter was originally planning to go to bathroom while Spiderman goes to the stage to plea his case. As Peter was in line to try to go into the bus there was a giant alarm that went off at a jewelry store not far from him. Peter told Ned to just go ahead and that they would see him when he gets there. Peter went to the scene of the crime to see a man and female walk out of the jewelry with sacks full of jewelry and gold. Peter notice that they had branding marks on their calves. The man had his on his left calf while the woman had hers on her right calf. They both gazed over to Peter, who was in his Spidey Suit, and as soon as they saw him, they looked at each other and then ran away. "STOP IN THE NAME OF THE LAW!" Peter yelled as he ran after they two criminals. When Peter approached them, he tried to fight them, but all they did was block his attacks, tossed him away, or just avoided his attacks. It was annoying Peter to a point where he thought that they were only teasing him. Peter kept going until he heard a giant explosion coming from Manhattan. He was about to go after the explosion, until he saw the man pull out a remote and press a button, which caused an attorney firm to explode near him. Peter thought that they were the cause of the explosives that were happening everywhere, so he decided to go after them and stop them in whatever way he could. The villains kept their distance and after running for a while, he heard the male villain asked the female, "How long did Phantom state to play with him? And why exactly us?" The female scoffed at the male and responded, "Cause she doesn't need another hero to get in the way of our intro. Plus she knows that we are strong enough to distract the kid without seriously harming him." The male villain grunted and asked in a bratty voice, "When can we stop? I'm getting bored." The female let out another heavy sigh and responded, "Just wait until the signal." After the female villain stated that, a giant red beam with black specks in it blasted through the New York Sky towards Manhattan. Peter watched in fear as the light quickly vanished a loud bang was heard from a distance. Both of the villains glanced at one another, nodded at the same time, and the female pulled out a weapon from her coat. Peter webbed to try to obtain it, but the woman allowed him to webbed it and then threw it to the right of Peter. It swung around him and used the webbing to tied Peter up. Peter looked up to see the man throw a ball to the ground which erupted into a large cloud of smoke that engulfed the villains and when the cloud vanished, so did they.

Peter reached a button that was on the outside of his thumb that he had to activate his dissolving solvent using two fingers rather than one that helped melted away his webbing. He made this feature just in case he had ever webbed himself by accident. After the webbing dissolved, Peter heaved a heavy sigh and took off in the direction of the where the red beam was going to impact.

While he swung through the city, he used FRIDAY to make a call to Ned. The phone was picked up until Peter called a third time and when he heard Ned's panicked voice, he knew something was wrong. "PETER, WHERE ARE YOU?! THE BUILDING, PHANTOM, MR. STARK!" Peter gently tried to calm Ned down as he requested, "Ned, slow down. Tell me what happened, nice and slowly." Ned took a deep breath and responded, "Phantom attacked the UN, Peter. She and several other people attacked the UN and Iron Man went to stop them, but Phantom shot a red beam that brought the building down and he hasn't come out yet." Peter felt his heart drop at the mention of Phantom's name and even more so when Ned told Tony hadn't come out of the fallen building. Peter swung through the city towards the UN faster than before. When he arrived he saw that building was completely collapsed. "FRIDAY, use the heat seeking lenses to seek out Mr. Stark," Peter commanded to FRIDAY. FRIDAY activated the heat seeking lenses and he saw Tony some large rubble that was crushing him. Once Peter saw Tony, he immediately ran over to the rubble and began to dig out Tony as fast he could. After Peter dug him out, he carried Tony down the ground floor, and yelled out to the EMT, "HEY I NEED SOME HELP OVER HERE! MR. STARK IS STILL ALIVE!" The paramedics dashed over to Peter and Tony, took Tony onto the gurney, and rolled him to the ambulance as Peter (Spidey) ran along side them. As the rolled Tony, Peter noticed that Tony, who was still awake, glanced over to a dark alley and asked in a low quiet voice, "Victoria… why?" And then Tony passed out. Peter immediately ran over to the alley, glanced around to see if he could spot her. When he looked up, he saw Phantom glaring down at him. He immediately noticed that she had pure blood red coloring in both of her eyes with a new bob-style haircut. Phantom extended her fist out, opened it, and a small round object fell to the ground. Upon impact, the ball broke open and an enormous cloud of black smoke erupted and engulfed Peter. Peter quickly climbed himself onto the top of the building only to see that Phantom was gone and so was any sign of her. Peter swung down to find Ned alone, so he pulled Ned away and asked, "Ned, I need the full story. What happened during the UN meeting?" Ned took a deep breath and told the tale of the fall of the United Nations. After Ned finished telling the story, Peter told Ned to head home and that he was going to visit Tony to figure out what drove Phantom to attack the UN.

* * *

 _PRESENT_

"And after I talked to Ned, I rushed all the way back here to visit you and to get the complete story about what happened with Victoria. Mr. Stark, she didn't do it did she, Mr. Stark?" Peter asked/begged to Tony. Tony couldn't meet the poor boy's pleading eyes, and only responded, "I'm sorry, Kid. She made her decision and we can't change nor persuade her differently." Peter looked down to his own lap and held onto his head sadly.

* * *

After the battle at the United Nations, Okoye escorted him out of the area to make sure that if Phantom possible hanged her mind about keeping T'Challa alive. They both entered a private car that was meant to be there's. After they walked in, the phone within the car rang three times until Okoye answered it. "Put T'Challa on the phone, now," Phantom ordered to Okoye. Okoye didn't do what Phantom ordered, so the car TV turned on and showed that Shuri and Ramonda were both tied up, blindfolded, and gagged. 'Again, put T'Challa on the phone. I won't say it a third time." Okoye gave T'Challa the phone and phantom immediately stated in Wakandan, "If you want them back alive, safe, and unharmed, you will meet us at Sears Tower within Chicago, Illinois here in the United States. You have three hours." After she stated that, the dead tone came through and T'Challa and Okoye just looked at each other and knew they had to get to Chicago ASAP.

They went to their plane and flew out to Chicago as soon as they could and when they arrived to the building they were asked to strip themselves of all of their weaponry. They were so advanced in their knowledge of them, they knew about the kimoyo beads and T'Challa's suit within his necklace. Once all of their weapons were removed, the Pack members escorted them into a business office and made them sit into the seats in front of the business desk. After a moment of them waiting, Phantom strode into the room without any expression, sat down on the desk chair, crossed her legs, and then a giant smirk painted her face through her mask. T'Challa feels threatened at her actions, so he tried to stand to his feet, but then notices that his body won't move on it's own. "Don't even bother. Your body won't move unless I allow it. Now let's make some negotiations." Okoye beat T'Challa to the punch, "What do you want?" Phantom's smirk grew even wider and answered, "An alliance. Between the Pack and Wakanda. You supply us with vibranium and the silent security that Wakanda has to offer, and we will provide protection, information, and the safety of Wakandawhen you can't, such as today." T'Challa felt a threat along with her terms, so he asked, "If you don't?" Phantom leaned forward and threatened, "You really can't afford to say no." One of the mercenaries began to tickle Shuri, which made her scream in surprise, which startled T'Challa and Okoye. "THIS IS A HOSTAGE NEGOTIATION!" Okoye yelled to Phantom, who only shrugged her shoulders and responded, "Maybe so, but deep down, T'Challa knows that he wants this alliance." After a moment of contemplating his options, T'Challa agreed to Phantom's terms. Phantom waved her hand which was a signal to her members, who brought Phantom a bad, a hot branding iron, a giant stack of paperwork, and a quill. "Mark yourself, sign the contract with your blood with your fingerprints, and swear your allegiance to me and the Pack." T'Challa does what Phantom asked. Phantom signaled for her mercenaries once more, which caused them remove the restraints of Shuri and Ramonda. T'Challa saw the restraints were a soft clothed on both of their wrist and ankles. The door burst open to reveal Shuri and Ramonda, who ran forward to T'Challa who embraced them wholeheartedly. Phantom stood up from her seat, injected T'Challa with her nanoteck serum as she walked passed him, and stated as she walked out, "We'll see you in Wakanda, T'Challa." After that, all of the other mercenary Pack members fled.

* * *

Less than a week later, there was an underground weapons expo that was being held within the corrupted city of Beijing. The Pack decided to raid the Expo and take whatever new weaponry they could add and adapt them to make them more destructible than any other in history. The raid was simple, the killed the lights, the snipers took out the security, and then they activated a bomb. After the bomb was activated they told every there if they didn't surrender that the bomb would everyone within the building out and cause all of the other bombs to activate and take out Beijing. The people gave in quickly and quietly, which made Phantom ask to Sun Wukong, who always stands by her side, "What do people value most? The answer is very simple: People only value their own lives. Once you threaten to take it away, they become putty within your own hands." After that, Phantom ordered the bomb expert to keep the bomb active, but to not detonate it unless she orders them too. Phantom went on her spree to take what weapons she wanted and after they took what she desired, Phantom ordered her Pack to contain all of the civilians within a single conference room and then… she told her comrades to detonate the bomb, killing all of the civilians without exposing any of the other bombs in the largest area. After they did that, they confiscating all of the other weapons, planning to either use them or sell them to the highest buyers to build up their finances. After they did that, Phantom had the building's power shut down and handle the preparations for her guests.

After an hour, the Exvengers came bursting into the building at once, hoping to throw the Pack off of their toes. They all saw Phantom standing on the stage, with the giant symbol of the Pack painted red behind her as she stared down the Exvengers. Even through the darkness of the room, her blood red eyes pierced through their souls with the looking of judgement within their eyes. Steve came forward and ordered, "Disperse the Pack and turn yourself in, Phantom. We're not giving you a choice." Phantom raised her eyebrow and replied stoically with a hint of sarcasm, "You're ordering me? I don't believe you understand the situation you're in, Rogers." Phantom snapped her fingers and then the Pack members who were hiding within the shadows jumped in, and when the Exvengers went in to defend themselves, they found that they couldn't move. It was as if their bodies were rejecting their commandments. Steve glanced his eyes over to Phantom only to see a smirk under her mask, and that's when he knew that she was using her abilities to pause their muscle movement. The mercenaries dropped the Exvengers to the floor and held them down as Steve yelled in protest, "Victoria stop this madness. Starting a war won't bring happiness or change. Only pain and destruction." Phantom smirked disappeared and then she began her speech. "Happiness is like glass. It may be all around you, yet it might be invisible. But if you change the angle of the viewing a little, then it will reflect light more beautifully than any other objects around you. Rogers, before creation there must be destruction. If my soul stands in the way, then I'll toss it aside. I've made my choice. The only choice: to move forward. You see, you can't change the world with pretty words and you certainly can't change the world without getting your hands dirty. We are not the ones at fault, the world is! In this world, evil can arise from the best of intentions. And there is good which can come from evil intentions. When there is evil is this world that justice cannot defeat, would you taint your hands with evil to defeat evil, or would you remain steadfast and righteous, even if it means surrendering to evil? In order to defeat evil, I shall become an even GREATER evil. If a king doesn't move, how can he expect his subjects to follow? Because a war will only end when someone wins. For those only one who kill are those who are prepared to be killed. I destroy this world and then recreate it anew. That is my vow and my ambition. You and the others are pawns on the opposite side of the board that I need to track and keep out of the way."

Wanda felt that she could move her fingers due to Phantom dropping her abilities after the Pack held down the Exvengers, so she used her abilities to send a giant bar of metal towards Phantom at the end of Phantom's speech. Phantom saw the metal, but just stood in her place. Sun Wukong caught it single handedly, which surprised the Exvengers. Phantom only glanced over to Wanda and began to to attack the nerves within Wanda, almost like she was sticking a millions needles inside of her at once while burning her flesh. Wanda yelled out in pain, which caused everyone of the Exvengers to flinch and Steve yelled out, "VICTORIA STOP!" Phantom just ignored his request, kept hurting Wanda, and walked to a throne made of earth while her gaze never left his. She sat at the throne, waved her hand, and one of her mercenaries came forward with a chest while she addressed the Pack, "Do what you will… btu keep it PG. But as for the torture and gashing, then it's PG13." A giant smirk painted her face at the end of her command. The Pack yelled out in excitement and dragged the Exvengers in different directions within the darkness. As hearing grunts, screams, and any other sort of pain within the areas, Phantom sat and listened. After a few moments, she rose from her chair and began to go to each Exvenger, one by one, cutting them with their insignia, branding over the carving, and then injecting her nanobots within their bloodstreams. As she went on to carve, brand, and inject the nanos, you could hear her sing:

{Phantom: Believe, I know

I've sunk pretty low

But whatever I've done you've deserved

Steve: Victoria-

Phantom: **QUIET!**

I'm a bad guy, that's fine

Cause it's not fault of mine

And some justice at last will be serve

Now it's time to rise up or it's time to back down

And there's only one answer for me

So I'll stand up and fight cause I know that I'm right

And I'm ready, I'm ready, I'm ready

Ready as I'll ever be

You've ignored me too long

But I followed along

Hoping you'd finally see

You can laugh cause it's fine

Cause the last laugh is mine

When you finally listen to me

Now it's time to rise up or it's time to stand down

And the answer is easy to see

And I swear by her sword

 **I WILL NOT BE IGNORED**

Are you ready, I'm ready, I'm ready

Ready as I'll ever be}

She saved Steve for last, just so she could see the regret and horror within his eyes when she finalizes her task of the Exvengers. As she branded Steve she explained, "So you never forget the scars that will remain on my soul for all time." Steve gazed into her eyes, but saw no soul within them. It was almost as if she was either in autopilot or she was acting to own will.

{Phantom:

I Never wanted to do this

But I'll do it cause it guarantees

 **THAT YOU WILL HEAR ME**

Someday you'll thank me

I'll save my home and family

And I'm ready, I'm ready, I'm ready

Ready as I'll ever be}

Steve tried to keep himself going, but the pain was too much for him or his team to bear. Phantom told the mercenaries that they were done in that situation and to flee. When Steve tried to rise from his seat, he felt all the pain weigh him down. He saw Phantom lift her hand, flick her fingers in a fast circle, and then all of the Exvengers' worlds went black. Sun went to hopefully take them outside for medical services, but Phantom spoke firmly, "Leave them. If they survive this, it'll make them worthy adversaries." With that Phantom and Pack fled in hope to gain their one last contract.

* * *

Dr. Strange walked into his Sanctum, only to feel that something was off. He couldn't quite pinpoint what they were, but in order to be safe, he put on his sacred robes with his trusty cape. It only took a moment, but he found his intruder sitting in his favorite armchair with a glass of brandy in her hand. She paid him no mind as he began to interrogate her, "How did you get in?" She only raised a single fingers and responded, "Wrong subject. How did WE get in?" Dr. Strange glanced around the area and saw several sets of eyes hiding within the shadows of Sanctum. Dr. Strange prepares for a fight only to have Phantom tell him, "I wouldn't do that. We found several of your toys in this building. Including the big cauldron thingy. One wrong move… bye-bye toys." Strange decided to challenge her bet, "We'll see about that." Phantom made a slight motion with the swing of her head and then several sounds of breaking and shattering rung throughout the Sanctum. Phantom playfully asked, "You wanna try again?" strange traveled around the Sanctum with his abilities and saw the broken Helmet of Razadazar. He didn't consider it a major loss, but still Phantom was causing a threat for him. He went back to her, went in for another challenge but heard another item breaking. He found that it was his Black Mirror, and before he could go back to her, Phantom yelled, "My patience is running thin, Dr. Strange." Then he heard nothing but shattering ring throughout the Sanctum. Strange went back to Phantom and tried to attack her from behind, but he was stopped by a man with six arms, so he mocked, "You need your henchmen to protect you?" Phantom only smirked and drank from the glass while replying, "They do that on their own." She swished around her hand and everyone heard more items breaking.

Strange backed away from the six armed man and opened the Eye of Agamotto. Phantom rose from her chair, went to Strange, stopped his body movement, and stole the Eye within a split second. As she held it, she stated, "This is what I wanted. I heard whispers, rumors really, from Hongkong about someone manipulating time. I didn't think any of it, until I remembered something. All they remembered was a bright green light coming from a man with a red cloak." Phantom released Strange as the Eye of Agamotto closed. Strange reached forward to try to take the Eye back, until eight people jumped on him and held him down, even from the tips of his fingers so that he couldn't use his abilities on them. "Relax, Strange. Pardon me, DR. Strange. I don't wish to take the Eye of Agamotto for myself, but rather ally you and the Pack." Strange was confused by her statement, so he asked, "Why?" Phantom smirked at him, crouched down to his eye level, and replied, "Cause while I wishs to borrow the Eye for experimentation, I have too much on my plate in order to keep it and the Mystic Arts safe. That's where you come in. You get to keep doing what you've been doing, and I get to borrow the Eye. Here's my proposition: we, the Pack, give you information on any Mystic Arts activity with out advance observational skills, support, and assistance. In exchange, for your cooperation and temporary borrowing of the Eye." Strange lifted his eyebrow and asked, "What information could you give me that I don't already have or-" Phantom was quick to respond, "The stone with the Eye is the Infinity Stone of Time. There are six of these mystic stones, four of which were on Earth at one point of time. I currently possess samples of three of the four and this is my last one. I also have a scroll from Asgard that I… acquired while visiting about the Tesseract. I personally have no use for it and while it obtains the origins of the stone, I can't read it. It's your, if and only if you join us… OH, and if you say no, we're going to kill you." Phantom ended her statement with a sickeningly sweet voice that made it seem less like she was a threat.

An axe, curtesy of Aries from the Olympians, was laid next to Dr. Strange's neck to show that Phantom wasn't playing. Phantom smiled at him and told him, "Can't have you coming after us for the Eye of Agamotto, you understand." Strange only glared at Phantom and responded, "Great choices. Either live by your way, or die by mine." Phantom gave him a cute smile and replied, "You catch on fast." Strange deeply thought about his position. There weren't many Guardians left in the world, and he needed to stay alive. But on the other hand, he knew that Phantom couldn't get her hands on the Mystic Arts, so he requested, "Other than the stones, you won't dwell into any other form of the Mystic Arts?" Phantom nodded her head in agreement, told the other mercenaries to bring the paperwork, and when they did, they also brought a knife with Dr. Strange's coloring scheme, a branding iron, and a syringe. Phantom ordered the mercenaries to get off of him and explained the items with a simple saying, "I like a sign of loyalty. So…" Strange looked over the large stack of papers and one article stuck out to him, so he asked, "What's the Alpha Omni Protocol?" Phantom kept a stoic expression and responded, "It's a Protocol that only I can initiate. It's basically just to protect my assets. Your job is to go AWOL while the Pack are to protect you and the stone at all cost, while others will be stationed to protect Vision, and the rest are to go to where the fight is and put an end to it once and for all. Got it?" Strange nodded at her response and was about to sign the paper with a normal pen and she stopped him, "No, no, no. Prick your finger, use the blood as ink, and then sign your name. This way you can't deny your claims to us." Strange followed her instructions and commented, "You've really thought this through." Phantom smiled, took his comment as a compliment, and thanked him. As the Pack members fled the Sanctum, Phantom waved off to Dr. Strange as she left, she also yelled out, "Don't fix those Hands of the Dead. You'll thank me later for it." Dr. Strange just watched with awe and a complexed look within his eyes at the young woman whose traps he and the world were falling for.

* * *

After Phantom cut a piece of the stone, she returned the Eye of Agamotto to Dr. Strange. The piece she cut was placed within a small preservation tube within her lab next to the other three samples that she managed to obtain throughout the years. The lab was in the HQ facility within the Beartooth Mountains. As she and Sun Wukong stared at the four tubes, Sunny began to ask, "So, are you hoping that these will help save your life?" Phantom kept her usual stoic expression and stared at the tubes with a deep focus in her eyes. After she thought about her life and options for a moment, she replied, "No, just preserve it long enough to finish my work." Sunny only cascaded down his eyes and did his absolute best to hide his emotions from her reply. He and the other members of the Pack knew that Phantom did not have long to live and that's why she truly needed the Infinity Stones, to preserve her life. Her heart was weaken due to the constant experimentation and overextension of limitations. Her mind was murky and she could rarely keep her focus upon a single subject for longer than an hour. She would be seen arguing to herself over little things, even to the point where it sounded like a conversation with the thin air. Finally, her body was rejecting her. She could not eat solid foods anymore, drink much of anything except for water, unless it was only a sip, and she could feel her joints popping with the slightest of movement. She would use her telepathic abilities because they were the ones that didn't weigh her down as much as her elemental abilities. Phantom made her vow to end the world's image and create it anew, and since she knew that she wasn't long for the world, she had to speed up the process with a war.

* * *

Two months later, around Christmas time, the Pack attack a political party within New York that was planning a political attack towards the Pack, and Phantom knew that she had to make an example of those radical politicians. While they attacked, the word of the Pack in New York reached a certain hero. Peter swung to the area only to see Phantom decapitating the main figurehead of the political rally. Peter knew that his old Victoria was still in there, underneath all of the lifeless expressions, so he decided to try to reach her. "VICTORIA!" Phantom glanced over to Peter with her eyes that looked like they were made of the purest of glass. Peter took one step towards her, which caused Phantom to go into a full blown sprint away from him and Peter to follow her. After a few moments of running, she jumped into a sewer, which made Peter stop and not follow her, because he feared that she had an ambush waiting for him. Peter sent in the Spider-Drone to follow her. Droney followed her to abandoned factory that used to make television screens. Peter went to the factory and stalked the place out for a full twenty-four hours. All he saw was that Victoria would come and go in civilian clothing, completely covered head to two with sunglasses, and no one thought twice about it since they were in the middle of winter. She only went out to get food, and it was always only enough for one, which made Peter believe that she was alone. After completing his observation of Phantom, he called Ned to inform him about Phantom's whereabouts and that he was going to try to reason with her and bring her back.

Peter waited until the nighttime, and as soon as it was time, Peter snuck into the building and crawled through the ventilation system. Peter crawled quietly until he spotted Phantom sitting in an empty room on a throne made of earth. Peter made sure to check the area, but when he saw no signal of life, he jumped out of the vent quietly. "Spiderman," Phantom greeted to him quietly with a small amount of love within it. After he heard her, he sighed out her name with relief as he took a single step towards her, "Victoria." After he took that lone step, several weapons were throne to his feet that consisted of knives, small swords, ninja stars, needles, and even an axe that all acted a threat to not allow him to take a single step further. He glanced up to see that Phantom had her hand raised as a signal for her fellow mercenaries to not attack him any further. "What do you want, Spiderman?" Peter took a deep breath and responded to her, "I've come to take you home." Phantom sighed at his naïve belief and replied sadly but with affirmation, "My home is here now." Peter felt a knife strike his heart at her statement, because he knew deep down that she wanted to come back with him, but she was using her pride to block herself from what she desired most. "Stop playing this game, Victoria. I'm begging you," Peter begged with the most sadness that Phantom had ever seen from the boy about another person. Phantom sighed at his deep sadness and replied, "We both know it's not a game. I've taken more live than you can possibly imagine. I've made my claim to change the world, and I am going to keep it. How did I escape my emotional plight? With difficulty. How did I plan for all of this? With absolute pleasure." Peter felt her statement as more knives being driven into his poor non-understanding teenage heart, and asked while feeling the sting of tears coming to his eyes, "But why this way?" Phantom heard the crying undertone produced by the poor boy, but thankfully no one could see his expressions due to his mask, and when she heard it, she felt that she possessed a hook to Peter's heart and that she needed to yank out like a Band-Aid. "Because it is the fastest way and will cause the least amount of casualties. If we approached this in a different way, people would assemble armies and it would cause more people to die, especially since it would cause the fight to be drawn out." Phantom's response made sense to him, but it made him believe that she was setting herself up to become a villain. She was doing it for all the right reasons, but just going about in all the wrong ways, so Peter asked, "But why you? This isn't you, you're not a villain." Phantom sighed at the poor boy's naivety, signaled to her mercenaries, who turned on the televisions and showed the surveillance of the workshop in HQ. Peter realized who was on the televisions, and asked, "Are those…?" Phantom beat him to the punchline, "They are formal villains. Now they work for me. Vanko was found after he attempted suicide, brilliant technician. Justin Hammer, a weapons expert, not as great as Stark was, but still usable. Helmut Zemo: brilliant strategist. Concocted the plot that divided the Avengers. Of course you remember Liz's dad. I wanted some alien tech experts and he and his colleague were the perfect choice. Others are just minor villains that we have recruit, but valuable to us nevertheless. You see…" Phantom rose from her seat and began to sing as music blasted from the speakers. The Pack members paid no mind to her since they knew about her mental instability.

{Phantom: I'm not the damsel in distress

I'm not your girlfriend

Or the frightened princess

I'm not a little bird

Who needs your help to fly

Nope, I'm the bad guy

All these former villains that you see

Each of them, with shaking knees

Has knelt before me

So I'm not your teammate

Nor your partner in crime

What am I boys?

(Mercenaries: She's the bad guy)

Oh it's magic

To watch a planet

Shrivel up and die

Oh it's thrilling

To be a villain

I destroy their hopes

And then I watch them cry

'Cause I'm the Bad Guy

Actually

I'm not the Bad Guy

I'm just a bit surprising

It's not worth losing sleep

It's not worth analyzing

The was a time before

Not so long ago

I wished just like you

Can you hear my call?

Oh ain't it fantastic?

I see something

I blast it!

And let me tell you why

I always had a weakness

For bareness and bleakness

I crush all your hopes

And then I watch you cry

See I find this business rather fun!

I don't want your assistance

Or your adulation

I'll vaporize your galaxy

And bid you bye-bye

Why?

Come on guess!

(Mercenaries: 'Cause, you're the bad guy?)

Well, girl}

Phantom cackled at end of the song, and when she did that, Peter felt himself feeling scared, but rather for Victoria rather than of her and so he tried to persuade her. "Victoria, this isn't you. You're not a villain. You're a hero. Ever since I met you when I was a kid, you've been my hero. You saw me, a poor kid on the street, freezing, and you took me inside and bought me food. You even bought a gift for my aunt, someone you never even met. You took pain experiences that were meant for me. You even gave up your emotions for me, because you thought it was best for me, even though it hurt you in the process. The Avengers are your friends and family…" Peter went forward to try to emphasis his point, but he was thrown to the ground by Ramesses II from the Pharoahs in order to keep Peter from going any further to Phantom. After Peter made his final statement Phantom felt her blood boil at the mention of the Avengers, so she turned her back to him and sung out:

{Phantom:

It's time you learned a lesson

It's time that you understand

Don't ever count on anybody else

In this or any other land}

Peter tried to reach forward towards Phantom, but a sickle was placed infront of him. He also felt several weapons upon his back, such as a mace, swords, and even spearheads. Phantom waved her hand to signal them to back off. As she sang, she looked as if she was reminiscing her past:

{Phantom:

I once hoped for friendship

To find a place among my kind

But those were the childish wishes

Of someone who was blind

Open up your eyes}

Phantom crouched down to meet his eye level as she continued:

{Phantom:

See the world from where I stand

Me among the mighty

You caged at my command

Open up your eyes

Give up your sweet fantasyland

It's time to grow up and get wise

Come now little one

Open up your eyes}

Phantom rose and turned her back to him and watched as the monitors changed to several different visuals instead of a giant one. The footage contained the history of several mercenaries before they even began mercenaries. Even with Victoria's past in the middle of them all that presented her bonding with her family.

{Phantom:

We all start out the same

With simple naïve trust

Shielded from the many ways

That life's not fair or just}

The monitors changed from the happy moments of the mercenaries to the moments of when all of their lives changed and they realized the horrid truth of their world. Peter watched in horror of the filmed scene of Victoria's family massacre:

{Phantom: But then there comes a moment

A simple truth that you must face

If you depend on others

You'll never find your place}

When all of that footage showed, Peter felt all of the weapons were no longer on him, so he stood up and approached Phantom slowly as all of the mercenaries watched the monitors. When he reached her, he tried to reason, "This isn't you, Victoria. Yes, you've killed people, but I know you're doing to save many others. Come back with me. You can start over again, like you did before. It's not too late. Just, come back with me." Peter extended his open hand out to her at the end of his speech, and Phantom began to consider it as she turned towards him. Peter saw tiny blue specks begin to return to her red eyes as she slowly put her hand forward to accept his offer. One of Phantom's mercenaries that she recruited to be apart of the Kireyes saw Phantom's strive waver, so she went up to the technician to put on the file "Reunited." All of the tiny videos went back to another giant projection. It began with two videos showing Steve and Tony telling her about her father, and ending with Victoria reuniting with her father, how she fought and threatened him. The video paused and zoomed in to Enrique's scared face. As her emotions changed, she heard blasts coming from the other side of the building, most likely from the one hero, who she knew would come to save Peter, so she retracted her hand and continued:

{Phantom:

And as you take that first step

Upon a path that's all your own

You see it all so clearly

The best way to survive is all alone}

While all this was happening, Tony was trying his best to try to reach Peter. Ned called him directly after Peter called him. Tony respected Peter keeping surveillance of Phantom, but after he went in, that's when Tony knew that he had to get Peter out or he wasn't going to leave that factory alive, because of his stubborn nature and how Phantom was never going to come back. Not after what he and the others did to her. Tony fought his way in, and kept fighting constantly to try to get to Peter, but he realized something in the mid-fight. They all were holding back for some odd reason.

Phantom turned her body away from Peter and snapped her fingers. Peter felt that it was a now or never type of situation, so as Phantom sang on, Peter shot his webbing forward, only to have his attack stopped by Sun Wukong staff. The other mercenaries surrounded Peter with their weapons out and ready to kill. Tony blasted his way into the final room to see Peter at Phantom and the Pack's mercy, while Phantom was singing:

{Phantom:

Open up your eyes

And see the world from where I stand

Me among the mighty

You caged at my command

Open up your eyes

And behold the fading light}

Tony swooped in and grabbed Peter. As Tony swooped in, Peter heard Phantom's voice within his head, "Peter, I have to do this," even as she sang. Peter even noticed that her right hand was wide open at her side, to signal for the Pack to not attack.

{Phantom:

It's time to grow up and get wise

Come now little one

Open up your eyes}

Peter fought like hell to try to get out of Tony's grasp and back to Victoria, because even now she was protecting them. That's how he knew his Victoria was still in there. "Mr. Stark, please let me go back. I can save her. I can bring her back. Please, let me…" Peter's request stopped midway due to him seeing the blood red of her iris consume the blue specks that were appearing in her eyes before. She pointed a gauntlet much like the Iron suits, but hers was black and had a red center in the palm, to them. The gauntlet lit up in a dark red light and as she belted her final line, she fired at them:

{Phantom:

 **OPEN UP YOUR EYES!** }

Tony's sensor went off telling him that there was a laser about to hit him. He quickly dodged out of the way and then a smaller version of the hadron cannon shot past the spot where he and Peter were and then towards a police helicopter that came to arrest the Pack. Once it impacted the helicopter, it caused it to implode on itself and then explode. Both Peter and Tony looked in horror at what Phantom destroyed. Once they both looked back, they saw that Phantom and the Pack were gone and left no trace behind.

* * *

I do not own anything or any of the Marvel characters, but I do own Phantom and the members of the Pack. HEY GUYS! Sorry that this chapter is shorter than my other chapters, but I really wanted to wrap it up and get IW. I already have an outline ready to go. I hoped you enjoy this chapter and hopefully IW will go according to plan. Also if you know where I got the songs from, awesome, but if you know where I got her (Phantom's) speeches from, you get super special brownie points cause it's one of my most favorite series and book ever.

* * *

What is Phantom going to do? How long does she have to live? How else will she go on to challenge the world? Will she succeed in what she ventures to do? TUNE IN AND SEE WHAT WILL HAPPEN!

* * *

Phantom's Outfit: pin/497999671286831270/

Tiamat: wiki/Beast_II

SIDE NOTE: THE CARVING/BRANDING MARKS OF THE A6 ARE THEIR TATTOOS THEY HAVE! For everyone else, I'll let you use your imagination for those. ;)


	15. Infinity War

Within the past years, between the fighting, rallies, and constant exchange of threats, the name of the Phantom began well known throughout the world. Not as the usual hero of justice or defender of the people, the name became one that the public came to fear. Those in the lowest of classes still saw her as a hero, because she and the Pack robbed major corporations and gave the profits/medicines over to people with no power just like Phantom promised in beginning of the Pack's public appearance. All while the public knowing that Phantom was creating a whole new type of warfare and being a well-known terrorist around first world countries, none knew of the underground deals that she was making. Every mob had encountered her in some way or another, every gang had backed down from her veering gaze, and every villain bowed before her, making her the most-feared, least merciful, and top crimes boss in the world. Everyone who swore allegiance to her were forced to brand and inject himself or herself. The brands were an insignia to the rest of world of the depth of Phantom's grasp. The injection were so that she could keep track in case any of them wanted to go AWOL or deny any claims that the Pack had on them.

* * *

Hidden deep within the forest of the Little Moose Wilderness, the Guild of the Erinyes's were keeping track of their monitors. Their Guild Master was keeping her Guild in the top shape that it was meant to be. As she gracefully walked across the catwalk of monitors, a large and rather obnoxious blaring came from one of the monitor's radars. The Guild Master paused her walking, and questioned without even turning her head, "What is that?" The man dubbed Mundo, answered her firmly without even looking up, which scared many of the other members, "It is our Sentry System, or the Earth Impacting Monitors. It seems that they detected a large entity has entered the atmosphere and isn't breaking away as a casual meteorite would. The entity in question is rather large and there is a sizable reading of UV exposure." The Guild Master asked, "Thor?" The reader answered, "No, bigger. Much bigger." Another monitor reader yelled out, "There is also no locator nanotech detected." Mundo sighed at the constant disruption, and continued, "I'm reading that along with the UV exposure there is also Gamma Radiation, so I concluded that it had to be that…" Before Mundo could finish his thought, the Guild Master jumped from the catwalk, came right behind him, peered over his shoulder to observe the readings, smirked, and finished, "Thanks to Thor, Hulk is coming home." The master pivoted her body and yelled out to her squad of Elite and Enhanced Specialists, "Sunny, summon the rest of the Zero Squad. We're going hunting in New York." She gazed to the dark part of the room where the light didn't showed the details of the figures, but all she could make out were their eye colors and that their gazes meant that they were ready.

* * *

After Dr. Strange found Tony in Central Park with Pepper Potts and brought him to the Sanctum, Bruce and him were talking normally. While they talked, Dr. Strange opened two portals lined up to one another. What came through the portal puzzled both Tony and Bruce, until Tony recognized the insignias on the bikes. The bikes came through both portals in an endless cycle until they stopped. The leader of the battalion hopped off her bike, and as soon as he saw how it was, Bruce questioned, "Phantom?" Bruce looked her up and down and he noticed how her appearance had changed over the past few years. He saw her new outfit, haircut, how her body's changed, and the biggest thing he noticed was her brand scars. She had on a new mask, but he didn't recognize the Pack clothing, nor the symbols that her brands were. She remained silent and only kept her gaze at Tony stoically. She stepped forward, kept her gaze at Tony, and replied, "Banner." After she took her step, Tony stood in the way of her path.

Phantom raised her hand slightly, only to have her motion stopped by a light ring coming from her pocket. Phantom pulled out her cellphone, and answered the call without saying a word. As soon as the phone was picked up, Mundo on the other line, responded, "Master, we have a problem. A major problem. We got another alert about something else coming. It is huge and foreign to us. We suspect that it's Chitauri and heading directly to you, in New York City, and another is heading to Scotland. I sent all the squads within the area to head towards you, but any others will take a bit of time…" Phantom immediately stopped Mundo from his report and replied, "No. Have the ones in this area get ready for a fight. I need whoever is within the Scotland area to find Vision and protect him at all cost. Any of the others are to head to their designated areas. We are initiating Protocol Alpha Omni. I repeat, initiate Protocol Alpha Omni. If something were to happen to me, the Pack is to follow the line of succession." All of the others within Phantom's militia straightened their postures at the words "Protocol Alpha Omni." Phantom reached into her back satchel, pulled out five tiny Stark Hadron Cannons and five blue Pym Particle disks. She tossed the Cannons first, and then the disks next so that they didn't activate. After she tossed them, she commanded, "Take these disk and form formation Penta with the coordinates that I sent to your communicators. Sun, you are leading the firing squadron. Hessian, go retrieve and prep the other squads in Montana. Charmeine, you're on standby for medical services. Goetia, you are leading the first fight front lines in Montana. Izanagi, Gawain, Amun, you all are to head to Vision's location. Chaos, you head to Wakanda to warn T'Challa and prepare the fort for Vision. Any questions?" Tony and Bruce wanted to ask who was she talking to, but the Pack were all listening to Phantom's orders and she took their silence as a no. "Good, now go." After Phantom stated that, she heard everyone yell, "Yes, Phantom," and the lines went dead and the members with the weapons left to follow Phantom's orders. Phantom hung up her phone, put it way, walked past Tony towards Bruce, and began to brand him without allowing him to feel any of the pain.

As Phantom did her work on Bruce, Wong explained what the Infinity Stones were and how they were created. As Wong finished, Phantom injected Bruce with her nanotech trackers. Tony asked for the villain's name once more, and Bruce replied after Phantom injecting him, "Thanos. He's a plague, Tony. He invades planets. He takes what he wants. He wipes out half the population. He sent Loki. The attack on New York, that's him." Tony slowly took in the information and he and both Phantom both exclaimed at the same time, "This is it." Tony asked what was the timeline, and Phantom immediate replied, "Less the ten minutes. They've already entered the atmosphere and my army is preparing now." Bruce continued from Phantom, "He has the Power and Space Stones. That already makes him the strongest creature in the whole universe. If he gets his hands on all six stones, Tony…" Strange continued his thought, "He could destroy life on a scale hitherto undreamt of." Tony didn't take him seriously, began to stretch on the Cauldron of Cosmos, and asked, "Did you seriously just say 'hitherto undreamt of'?" Strange smacked Tony off of the Caldron and asked, "Are you seriously leaning on the Cauldron of the Cosmos?" Tony asked if that was what it was. After the smack, Tony and Strange gazed into each other's eyes in a challenging way, until he broke and stated, "I'm going to allow that. If Thanos needs all six, why don't we just stick this one down a garbage disposal?" Strange told him that they can't. Phantom stepped forward and stated, "If you cut the stones, they just grow back. That's what I've been doing for the past in order to keep my research. Only another source of equal energy can destroy the original. I'm working on prototypes now, but nothing is ready." Wong stepped forward and proclaimed, "We swore an oath to protect the Time Stone with our lives." Then Tony countered about his oath against ice cream and how it changed when Ben and Jerry named "Stark Raving Hazelnuts." Strange tried to insult Tony through any means necessary. Wong stated that "Hunk of Hulk of Burning Fudge" was their favorite.

Bruce was confused by the whole thing, until Tony brought back his point. Strange stated that their oaths couldn't change, and then him and Tony went back and forth as Phantom thought that they were children until Bruce got in the middle asking about Vision. Tony told him that he couldn't find him due to Vision turning off is locator. Bruce was confused that Tony lost another superbot and Strange asked who could find him. All of the men, except for Bruce turned to Phantom. Strange asked, "Can you?" Phantom sighed at the question, and replied, "He's probably with Witchy. I already have my men tracking her in order to get him." Tony didn't trust Phantom, so he stated, "Shit. Steve Rogers can track him too." Strange exclaimed his lost hope. Bruce was confuse by why it was a bad thing, and suggested that they called him. Tony and Phantom told him that it wasn't that easy and realized that Bruce was very behind about the Avengers News. Tony explained how the Avengers broke up, Bruce asked, and Tony explained, "We all had a giant fallout. Steve, Nat, and Clint all went rogue. Maria is AWOL. Fury's underground. We're not on speaking terms. Phantom's a criminal now too. Number one criminal in the world to be exact. She commands the biggest and most illegal army in world, all while being wanted dead." Phantom, who stood quietly as he explained, finally asked, "And whose faults are those?" Bruce felt emotional and told him that Thor was gone and that Thanos was coming. Phantom raised her eyebrow at him and replied, "Thor's not gone, Banner. I've had nanotech placed within him some time ago, and my bots tell me everything. From heartrate, body temperature, and even tracks your body from my location. My bots would have told me if Thor was dead. I've got a reading that stated that his heartrate dropped exponentially, but it's back to normal levels now, so he's still active." Bruce eyes lit up at her statement, and asked, "Are you sure, Victoria?" Phantom quickly responded, "That's not my name." Tony pulled out the phone that Steve gave him, looked up his information, and stopped his actions when he felt the rustle of his hair.

Phantom turned to the rest of her brigade and ordered, "Everyone, go out and help the citizens of this city to a safe location. Have your weapons at the ready, because once you see the Chitauri, I want you all in full kill mode. No mercy to the aliens and help any human, understand?" All of the nodded at her and then she sent her arm forward and in a flash, they were all out the door going in separate directions to fulfill Phantom's orders. Tony turned to Strange and noticed that his hair was moving, so he asked if Strange was doing it on his own, but when Strange said no, all of the men looked out to the door. Phantom saw that some of her squad members were helping citizens away from the fight. Phantom was the first of them all of to run out the door, and towards where the other were running away from. Tony walked out first, glanced around, and went towards the danger. Once he reached where the strong winds were coming from, and he saw Phantom standing on her own with a large blue lizard-man hybrid next to her. When Strange and Tony approached, Strange cleared the winds and dust to show exactly what was happening. After he did that, Phantom ordered the creature next to her, "Veedra. Take Dr. Strange to our safe fortress, please." Dr. Strange quickly denied her order, which made her feared piercing gaze go to him while she stated, "I wasn't asking." Strange told her that his home was in danger, which Phantom quickly argued, "The stone comes first. I have armies ready for this day. You signed a contact in blood and you are going fulfill it." Strange knew Phantom had her own orders and protocols to follow, so he decided to play her thoughtful side, "If we provide a united front, they're more likely to surrender, do you concur?" Phantom narrowed her eyes, because she knew that he was baiting her, but he did make a fantastic point. After weighing her options for a split moment, she nodded her head at his proposal, and countered, "Fine, but if you are within any dangerous situation, you are to report to the Fortress at once, understand?" Strange nodded at her counter in agreement. Phantom glanced at Veedra, he nodded at her, then whistled, and finally several creatures appeared beside him. One of them was a headless man riding a wolf like a horse. Phantom approached him and shook his hand, and greeted to him and his squad, "Good to see you in this trying time, Hessian Lobo: Master of the Heroes Guild. I see that you brought some of your private squad. Alexander, Arjuna, Beowolf, Brynhildr, Napoleon, Salieri. I want you all to help my squadron with getting the civilians out of here. If you see aliens, have fun." All of the members, including the wolf of Hessian Lobo, since he had no head to, smiled. They all then took off in different directions leaving Phantom, Dr. Strange, Wong, Tony, and Bruce to the matter.

When all of them turned towards the ship, a bright blue light erupted from it and touched the earth. At the touch, three figure appeared at site. One giant muscular creature with skin that of an alligator with a giant pick axe. The other was a tall skinny gray figure with his hands behind his back, looking at his opponents like they were as challenging as an insect. The last was blue-skinned female with black lines outlining her face. She wore a fitted white outfit that had a giant white hood cape, much like the ones that Phantom used to wear. All of the Earthlings approached the foreign aliens with caution, as the elder skinny male spoke, "Hear me and rejoice. You are about to die at the hands of the Children of Thanos. Be thankful that your meaningless lives are now contributing-" Tony felt his patience for this creature end, so he yelled, "Earth is closed today. You better pack it up and get outta here." The skinny alien just ignored tony and directed his attention to Phantom and Dr. Strange, "Stonekeepers. Does this chattering animal speak for you both?" Dr. Strange stepped forward, activated his Mystic Art abilities, and replied, "Certainly not. I speak for myself. You're trespassing in this city and on this planet." Tony, being the man that he was, wanted to get the last word and yelled, "He means get lost, Squidward." Phantom stepped forward, narrowed her eyes, and threatened, "If you know I'm a keeper, then you know of my prowess and lack of mercy. Leave, before I change my mind." The skinny alien just pushed her threat aside and told the muscular one, "They exhausts me. Bring me the stone and her stone fragments."

As the big one stepped forward, Phantom noticed that the girl was going towards the side in attempt to either hit them from the side or from the back, so Phantom chose to fight her while the other handled the big one. Phantom ran forward to the woman and once their arms touched, Phantom felt her mind trying to be breached by the alien before her. Phantom felt someone trying to thread her mind with puppet strings. Phantom tried with all of her might to push the creatures clutches away as much as possible. After Phantom felt herself becoming helpless as she once had when she was training to become who she was, so it triggered her memories to appear. Phantom had pushed down her memories for years. She swore that since her soul and past self were in the way of her plans, she chose to lock them away deep within her mind and never recall them unless completely necessary. After the memory passed, she felt the weaving stop. Phantom glanced forward to her opponent and recognized the look of pain within her eyes, and as soon as Phantom recognized it, she decided to grasp her win and run with it. Phantom used the creature's shock for a split second, grabbed the sides of the creature's head, used little needles to cut both her and creature, collided their bloods, and sent every pain filled memory that she possessed to secure her victory. The female stood quiet for a moment as Phantom stepped back, until it reached up, clutched onto its own head, and screamed from experiencing the pain that Phantom once had to endure during her entire life within one single moment. Phantom noticed that all of the wounds she sustained over the course of those years appeared and then disintegrated as quickly as they came. Phantom used the opportunity of the alien's distraction to rush forward, slice the creature's neck to a clean haft, jumped onto its shoulders, twist, and pulled the beast head clean off. The body fell with Phantom to the floor, Phantom held her form, threw the head on top of the beheaded body, pointed her gauntlet palm forward at the corpse, and fired her tiny hadron cannon that was installed within her gauntlet. The body imploded and erupted within a stream of flames.

After Phantom destroyed the alien's corpse, she glanced up and saw Dr. Strange's cloak carrying him off away from the skinny alien, so she crafted a tiny twister of wind, hopped on it, and took off after Dr. Strange. Behind her, Phantom saw that the brittle alien was approaching her. While she tried to get to Strange as quickly as she could, the Brittle alien began to send various objects around them at her to try to slow her down. It wasn't until he sent a car that hit her to cause her to fall behind. Phantom quickly regained her footing and was on another wind current to try to catch back up. As she approached, the brittle alien sent various items at her to keep her away. Little did she know, there was another hero in pursuit to Dr. Strange. The alien sent a billboard towards the both of them, which Phantom jumped on and used her leg strength to push it to the side of the street with no civilians in sight. The force of the push caused her to go over to the other pursuer, who caught her Princess-style due to his Spidey-senses. After he caught her, both Phantom and Peter both realized who was who in this situation. The initial touch contact sent both of them the feeling of thousands of bolts of pleasurable electricity. The reason for this is because of the mind melding that Phantom had established between them two years prior. Usually whenever she did the mind melding, she learned that physical contact between two mind-melted individuals is necessary, unlike Mind Walking as she did with the Winter Soldier. It was similar to gravity. The individuals could fight the attraction to one another, but eventually they needed and required each other's touch. Phantom and Sun Wukong were always around each other, so to them, the mind melding didn't effect them as much as it did with her and Peter. In the past two years, Phantom made sure to keep her distance from Peter, with no physical contact and bare minimum of seeing each other, so when they finally touched, it was like releasing of dam of overfilled water. To Phantom, Peter's muscles grew more. His grip was still strong, yet delicate like a lover. Phantom pushed herself out of the Princess-style hold and went into a straight-lift, much like in Dirty Dancing. She lowered herself down, brought herself in close, nuzzled her face into his neck, and took a big whiff to satisfy her need of interaction. Peter still had the strong scent of Dove-Men Bar soap, which made Phantom smile at the memories of their hugs. Peter was stunned by the movement, but embraced it quickly and held her hand, allowing her to continue whatever she wanted to do with him. Phantom pulled herself away and Peter stared into her eyes. They still had the blood red coloring in the iris, but it was very dark and her eyes looked dull and tired, as if she was a wandering soldier looking for her final resting place. To both of them, seemed to last an eternity, but in all actuality, the interaction between the two only lasted five seconds. Phantom pushed herself away, let go of Peter, much to her and Peter's dismay, and took off after the brittle alien and Dr. Strange with Peter following closely behind her.

Phantom quickly approached Brittle first, and stopped him while Peter went after Dr. Strange and the Cloak. Phantom used her telepathic binding to stop the movement of the alien. When he felt his body stop, he glance back to the see the young mask warrior with her hand extended out as a way of directing her mental ambitions. The alien quickly broke Phantom's telepathic binding, which startled Phantom because no one had ever broken her binding before. The alien turned to Phantom, and spoke, "You're quite talented for an inferior life form, but your powers will be no match in competition with mine." Phantom mentally prepared herself for a showdown, but the next thing she knew, her body was trying to be pulled towards him, so she used her abilities, to make her and his body move within a circle. The both of them mentally fought for dominance and sadly, Phantom knew that she was losing. She thought quickly of her options, until she remembered a slight detail that she did. She used up a lot of energy to pause both of their movements, and the alien praised her, "You fought fair and well, Stonekeeper. If not for your puny existence, you would have made an excellent child of Thanos." Phantom strained a smirk, made a tiny movement, and replied with tension, "Thanks for the compliment, but one thing that you need to know about assassins… We never fight fair." The alien was confused by her statement, until he noticed that Phantom's right hand acted as a signal. The alien glanced behind to see a red beam of light with black specks within it. The aliens was held down by Phantom's binding, but managed to move at the last moment, which caused her Stark Hadron Cannon to blast his arm, which he had to use his telepathic surgery to detach his arm. He glared at Phantom, telekinetic grip to Dr. Strange body with Peter attached, and beamed them up. Phantom grabbed onto the bottom of the pole that Peter had, and telekinetically pushed herself up to grab Peter. All of them went up to the ship, while Peter told Tony that they were going up.

Strange entered the ship, but Phantom and Peter couldn't enter, but they latched themselves onto the ship. Phantom produced a large sphere of oxygen around her head, and cut into the ship as fast as she could because she noticed that the sphere of oxygen was getting smaller and smaller per second. The only down side of Phantom's oxygen was that she couldn't hear anything around her. Phantom glanced over and saw Peter's eyes go back due to his lack of oxygen and pasted out. Phantom let go of the ship, and went to grab Peter, but engulfed by a mechanical vest that sent nanotech throughout her form. The bots created a scythe that Phantom used to cut into the ship to stop her from falling. Phantom realized the suit that she was in. Her suit on the inside was like the Iron-Man suit that she would constantly put on whenever Tony was away when she was younger. On the outside, the suit hugged her form and even gave her a tiny skirt. The nanobots went over Phantom entire body, except for her gauntlet, which burned any nanotech upon contact. Phantom glanced at her form and the mask she wore a mask that was similar to the one Zero from her favorite anime Code Geass. The only difference was that the center wasn't blue, but the maroon like the rest of her body suit. Phantom could hear Peter through her suits speakers, "Mr. Stark, it smells like a new car in here!" Tony approached two newly suited heroes, and stated, "Happy trails, kids. FRIDAY, send them home." Phantom heard the AI say, "Yep," and then Phantom felt something about to open, so she yelled at FRIDAY to override. FRIDAY activated Phantom's override, but it was only after Phantom's parachute was evacuated. Phantom chomped off her parachute strings, and struck her scythe into the ship to keep her latched on. Peter reached out to her, Phantom threw several knives to Peter's parachute, grabbed Peter's wrist, and pulled him towards her.

Phantom pointed her gauntlet at the ship, and fired a wide short shot at the ship, which made an opening into the ship. Phantom pulled both of them into the ship, moved several of the metals surrounding it to cover the hole, and then made sure that Peter was okay. After she did that, she used her remote telepathy to establish her connection was Sun Wukong, while struggling to maintain her abilities, "Sunny, please. I need all eyes on Vision. I repeat: all eyes on Vision. Don't worry about Strange. I repeat: I got Dr. Strange. Stick to our plan, Sunny. Don't forget your promise, Sun Wukong. DON'T FORGET YOUR PROMISE!" She then lost her connection. After her adrenaline wore off, Phantom felt all of the pain that was inflicted upon her during the fights. Phantom turned on her communicator through the helmet to her HQ and ordered, "Send units B-1 through 4, C-1 through 6, E-1 through 33, H-1 through H-17, MA-1 through 9, ME-1 through 10, Re-1 through 4, Survival-1 through 49, Safe-1 through 13, and W-1 through 55 to my location NOW!" As soon as she stated that, the ground outside The Kireyes hideout opened up and many large rocket missiles shot out and flew up to the spaceship to Phantom's location. When the approached, they attached themselves to the ship, and sent many metal rods that connected to one another to add another measure to keep themselves on. After Phantom saw this, she heard her com begin to break its connection, so she turned it off.

She proceeded to take off her gauntlet, and when Peter saw her hand, he understood why. Her arm was severely burned to a second degree burns and new scars that he didn't remember being there. Phantom opened the hatch, reached down to one of the giant crates attached to the ship labeled "H4," slightly opened it, took out a green pill, shut the crate, then the hatch, and took the pill. Peter watch intensely and saw why exactly she took the pill. The burns on her arm completely healed, scabbed, and then shed to reveal the new scars on her arm that replaced the burns. Phantom sat still for a moment, until she her helmet opened, she took off her facemask, and she moved forward to throw up. Peter saw that it was blood that contained green specks, just like the old purple ones that he remembered were in Phantom's vomit whenever she took those purple pills. Peter glanced up to see Phantom's face without her facemask, and he saw that her mouth, eyes and ears were leaking blood, just they did back in the day whenever she overdid herself. The back of Phantom's suit opened to reveal Phantom's black cape, so she grabbed it, ripped it off, ripped it to make rags, and used one of the rags to clean herself up. After she did that, she put on her facemask, her helmet came back on, and her suit closed back up. She moved her head over to Peter, put on the gauntlet, and then suggested, "Let's go get the Wizard."

Peter nodded at his head at her suggestion and Phantom led them to go find Dr. Strange. Phantom led them to go through the ventilation system so that they wouldn't have any interaction or interference with the enemy until they found Strange. As they crawled through the vents, Peter decided to try to break the tension by asking, "So… you're still bleeding from your eyes, ears, and mouth?" Phantom felt her eyebrow twitch and she quickly shut him out, "I'm not talking about this." Peter was quick to try to convince her, "It'll make you better." Phantom was also quick to contradict him, "No, it won't." Peter try to get her to his side by arguing, "Talking about my problems usually makes me feel better." Phantom didn't give her counter a thought as she replied, "Well, that's you." Peter made his final point and stated, "Used to be you too." Phantom, realizing their position, and the fact that Peter wasn't going to drop the subject, shushed him. Peter was taken back by Phantom shushing him, but he thought he would ask, "Are you shushing me just to make me drop the topic." Phantom was silent until she responded, "No. I'm also shushing you because we're approaching enemy territory." Peter smiled at her witty response and he stated, "This conversation isn't over." Phantom joked, "Oh, we were having a discussion? I thought you were being snoopy again." Peter stifled a laugh at her joke, which made Phantom smile slightly at him.

Phantom looked down and she saw Tony looking down, probably trying to form a plan to help Dr. Strange. Phantom was the first to, quietly, drop down next to Tony, who aimed his blaster at her. She wasn't even phased by the threat and kept her stoic gaze at him. The cloak appeared behind Tony, and tapped on his shoulder, which caused him to aim it at the poor article of clothing, that had its ends up as a way of stating his peace, and Tony stated, "Wow, you're a seriously loyal piece of outerwear, aren't you?" Peter decided to make his entrance, so he slowly webbed himself down, and said, "Yeah, uhh… speaking of loyalty…" Tony worriedly turned around to see one of the people that he didn't want to see on the ship, "What the…" Peter quickly put his hands up and began to plea his case, "I know what you're going to say." Tony told both of the young adults, "You both should not be here." People told his story, "I was gonna go home." Tony was quick to tell him that he didn't want to here it, but Peter wanted to tell his tale, "But it was such a long way down and I just thought about you on the way…" Tony told all of them that now he had to hear it as poor Peter continued, "And kinda stuck to the side of the ship. And this suit is ridiculously intuitive, by the way." Phantom smiled, because she knew exactly where this was going as Peter continued and Tony swore at the situation. "So, if anything, it's kinda your fault that I'm here." Phantom stifled her laugh at the boy, because Tony and the cloak just gave Peter a look that screamed, "You did not just say that." Tony quickly threatened to Peter, "What did you just say?" Peter quickly took his comment back and stated that he was now in space. Tony approached the boy and gave his speech, "Yeah, right where I didn't want you to be. This isn't Coney Island. This isn't a field trip. This is a one way ticket. You hear me? Don't pretend you thought this through." Peter was quick to contradict the man telling him that he did think his plan through. It wasn't until Peter told them his closing argument, "You can't be a friendly neighborhood Spider-Man if there's no neighborhood." Phantom was shocked by the fantastic point that the young man had just made, while Tony's expression said, "I can't believe he just said that." Peter quickly thought that it didn't make sense, but Phantom told him, "No, Peter that actually made a lot of sense." Tony turned his head to the young woman and asked, "And why exactly are you here?" Phantom quickly shot back, "To get my stuff." Tony felt his eyebrow twitch at the young woman's remark, remembering that he said something similar to Thor when they all first met.

Tony sighed at the young adults, directed them to the scene below and stated, "Come on. We got a situation. See him down there? He's in trouble. What's your plan? Go." Phantom came up with several plans within a split second, but many of which were dangerous for at least one person and the stone. Peter crouched down and thought for a moment, until he rose and asked, "Okay. Did you ever see this really old movie, Aliens?" Phantom sighed because she remembered watching that particular film with Peter and knew which exact scene that Peter was talking about. Phantom told them that she had the needles and that Tony needed to distract Squidward enough for her to get the needles away from Strange, so that they wouldn't kill him. Phantom slowly crept down, and move forward when Tony got the Alien's attention. As Tony and the Alien talked, she brought her finger to where her mouth was as a signal for Strange to keep quiet. Phantom used her abilities to pull the needles out of Dr. Strange quickly and positioned them so that they wouldn't interfere with the plan. As soon as Tony shot the hole in the ship, Phantom attached her feet suing the nanotech in her Iron Slayer Suit. Peter sprang forward, used his webbing to catch Strange, and shot another web line to Phantom, who caught it and held on, but knew that the momentum would cause it to break if they had nothing to stop them. Behind she could do anything, four spider-like arms came from the back of Peter's suit, and stopped the momentum for them all. Peter asked what they were which made Phantom yell, "Who the hell cares, command them to help pull you both back in!" Phantom used her chance and pulled them all in with the help of his Spider-Arms.

After they all were safe within the ship, the Iron Slayer feet detached themselves from the ship. Phantom glanced around to make sure everyone was okay, and saw Peter try to introduce himself to the cloak, that only went back to its master. Strange stood up and told them that they needed to turn the ship around. Tony mocked the man, who tried to say that he wanted to protect the stone, and Tony replied that he wanted a thanks for all of their efforts. Phantom just stood by the watched the two men bicker like children. When Tony tried to say they had no backup, Peter try to say he was backup, both Phantom and Tony told him exactly, "No. You're a stowaway." Tony told both of them that the adults were talking. Dr. Strange didn't understand what was the dynamic between them, so he decided to ask, "I'm sorry. I'm confuse as to the relationships you all have. What is he? Your ward?" He turned to Phantom and asked, "Your courter?" Peter blushed at the question be responded, "No. I'm Peter, by the way." Dr. Strange told Peter greeted Peter by telling Peter his name, which Peter thought was his made-up super hero name, so Peter quickly stated, "Oh, you're using your made-up names. Um… I'm Spider-Man, then." Phantom whispered into his ear, "Actually, Peter. His actual title is Dr. Strange. He was the world's leading surgeon before his accident. Now he practices the Mystic Arts, but he is still technically a doctor, and his full name is Stephan Strange." Peter went "ohhh" at her explanation.

Tony gave his analysis on the ship's autopilot system as Strange approached him. Dr. Strange asked if Tony could get them home, but when Tony didn't answer, Dr. Strange got a little more forceful to his questions. When Tony said that they shouldn't Phantom stepped forward, "Oh no. Oh, hell no. Absolutely not. Veto to that. Stark. Three of us against his entire army, are you nuts? Especially with no backup?" Peter try to say that he was backup once more, but Phantom stated, "Not against an entire army, you're not." Strange stepped forward to Tony and told Tony that they shouldn't bring the stone to Thanos. After Strange told him that he didn't fully believe that Tony totally understood what was at stake, Tony got in Strange's face and told him that he didn't understand, and how the memory of Thanos, his army, and that one vision had haunted Tony for years. What disturb Phantom is that Tony didn't know what to do. One thing they always had in common was that they always had plans for emergencies. Tony continued to say that it was better to take the fight to Thanos so that they could catch him off guard, instead of waiting for Thanos. Phantom, who thought about the plan, said her peace about the situation, "That is a good idea. Hit him before his guard is up. It would be better if it was more than just three people, but we still have a slight advantage on timing. We're most likely screwed either way, but at least this way, if we fail, they'll be another chance for the others on Earth. Better to have two chances rather than only one." Strange thought about what both of them said and agreed, "Alright, Stark. We go to him. But you have to understand, if it comes down to saving you, Phantom, or the kid verses the Time Stone: I will not hesitate to let you all die. I can't because the universe depends on it." Tony moved from the tension and stated, "Nice, good. Moral Compass. We're straight." Tony then moved over to Peter, knighted the boy, and congratulated him, "All right, kid. You're an Avenger now." Peter looked shocked, then happy, and then posed to himself. Phantom was happy for him, because this was the moment that he's been waiting for, but also extremely worried, because she was planning to send him back to Earth as soon as possible to keep him from the fight. Now he was stuck there and had to fight with them all. Phantom gave him his moment to bask, and then she killed it by stating, "Peter, quit posing and come help me with the crates outside."

Peter quit his posing, blushed at her command, and agreed to help her. They both had on their helmets that provided oxygen, and went out to the ship one at a time, taking turns to bring in the crates. When they brought them all in, Tony decided to ask, "Why exactly do you have two hundred crates. Isn't that a tad excessive?" Phantom began to open the crates and explained, "I brought enough just in case. I only brought necessities, such as food, first aid, water, tech, weaponry, bedding, clothing, soap, drugs. You know the usual. I didn't know how long we were going to be in space, so I over packed just in case we need it. Better to be safe than sorry." Tony over to a crate labeled SAFE 5, opened it, and began to look through the contents. As he looked he spotted something that completely threw him off, so he decided to ask, "Is this a morning after pill… AND WHY ARE THERE CONDOMS IN HERE?" Phantom just glanced over, shrug her shoulders, and replied, "You never know. Missions sometimes have sexual contact. It's not uncommon." Tony was puzzled by her statement and asked, "But I thought…" Phantom quickly shut down his thought process, by replying, "Stark, I lost that a long time ago." Peter wanted to help change the topic, so he pulled out a syringe with red liquid and asked, "What's in these red syringes?" Phantom quickly took it away from him and stated, "That's my medicine. Don't inject yourself or you'll die."

After everyone settled and looked into each different crate, Phantom decided that she needed to replenish her diminished energy, and since they had time, she decided that the best way was to sleep and eat. She had the nanotech form into a fashionable belt that went around her waist. Phantom glanced at all the men, and just thought, "Eh, it's not going to be anything they haven't seen before." Phantom took off the belt, the gauntlet, then proceeded to take off her top and shorts to reveal her black and red color schemed lacey bra and panty set. Dr. Strange raised an eyebrow at her actions, while Tony, still feeling like her father, glanced to another direction, not wanting to look at his daughter's body or scars. Peter stared at her body and saw all of new scars that formed around her body, especially to her brands. Phantom went over to the crate that said C-1, bend over, giving the men a full look at her developed toned ass, and Phantom pulled out a giant shirt that was a size XXL because she knew that bigger shirts were easier to fix instead of smaller ones. She put on the shirt, unhooked her bra and pulled it out from the sleeve. Phantom then slipped off her panties, but no one could see anything due to the oversized shirt that was more like a dress to her form. She wrapped up her dirty clothing, put them into a giant fishnet bag, and put them to the side of the crate. She then grabbed a new set of bra and panties. This set was a dark maroon. Phantom had many of her underwear in dark colors so that if she had blood stains, it wouldn't ruin the clothing when she washed them. Phantom only put on the panties, and set the bra aside for when she woke up. The final thing she took off was her facemask. Everyone was stunned by that action, and when Phantom felt all of their stares, she glanced over to them, and explained to their surprised faces, "I don't care anymore who see me without my mask in my private time. I only wear the mask for public appearance now." Phantom went over to the bedding crate, pulled out a giant king mattress stored inside along with a pillow and blanket, and set it up next to the steering wheel of the ship. Tony stared at her in confusion and stated, "It's 3 o'clock." Phantom just looked at him and asked, "And? I sleep whenever I can. Assassins don't knew know when the next time we will be able to sleep, so we sleep whenever we can. Therefore, I'm sleeping now."

Peter moved his head to the side to show his acknowledge of her valid argument. Peter thought a nap would do him well as well, so he grabbed a pillow, and tried to get into bed with Phantom, who quickly stopped him by stating, "Those suits are cold. You need to change into something more comfy. Go to the clothing crate and pick out sleep attire, then you can come into the bed." Peter nodded at her statement and went to where the clothing crate was, which was a tad of distance away, opened it and began to pick his clothes while trying to figure out how to get his suit off. As Peter changed, Tony decided that it was the best time to ask his questions to Phantom that he didn't want Peter to hear, "What's been your connections to the others these past two years?" Phantom glanced at Tony and asked, "You want me to be nice and lie, or be truthful and hurtful?" Tony told her to try nice, so she told him that she didn't have any contact. Tony then told her to be honest, and she sighed and responded, "T'Challa and I kept tabs on one another. Natasha tried to join the Pack, but due our history and her current brand, she wasn't permitted in. Barton was branded in the beginning. I went to his home personally and asked him not to put up a fight for his children's sake. I saw and branded Thor and Loki a little while back. They went easy because I helped them find their father and sister. Lang loves to stir up trouble for some of the guilds I work with. Barne's was branded and chose to stay out of way. He believes he's done enough trouble for me. Witchy and I have had some interactions, along with some of the others. I send Vision souvenirs of those 'meetings' to keep him in line. Rogers and I have had some interactions. Some great, some not so good." Tony quickly picked up what she was saying, and asked, "Do you mean what I hope you don't mean?" Phantom shrugged and told him, "Probably." Tony then went blunt, "I mean sex." Phantom shrugged and answered, "Then yes." Tony went to scold her, but she explained before he could, "It wasn't what you're thinking. It was angry, hate-filled sex. They just happened and one of us would leave immediately afterwards. No feelings, no connections. Kind of like the flings you had when you were my age. You know, he would try to make me stop my ways, I'd say no, we argue, make out, sex, then gone. He was free to go at any time, but he was only hurting himself by constantly coming back. That's why I kept my contact with Peter to a minimum. Cause I knew full well that every time he would see me, he would give himself false hope and end up only hurting himself. No, no more talking about it. Here comes Peter." What Phantom didn't know, was that Peter heard everything. Peter also knew that as much as it was hurting Captain Rogers, it was hurting Phantom more, because she felt bad about everything that she was doing.

* * *

SUPER LEMONS WARNING

LEMONS

LEMONS

LEMONS

(Yes, there are lemons. If you don't know what this means, that means you're too innocent to read any further. Just skip ahead to the section that says "LEMONS ENDED!" Also warning there will be some S&M, so be prepared for that.)

Peter climbed into the bed next to her, but at the single contact, Phantom pulled herself away, got out of the bed, told the men that she needed some time alone, and walked a significant distance away. After walking for a bit, going through a few different rooms, she knew one of the men had followed her, so without even turning around, she commanded, "I know you're there. We're very far from the others. Far enough to be out of their sight and hearing, so if you have something to say or you want to do something, do it now." Peter came out from his hiding spot, walked up to her without saying a thing. Phantom turned to him without showing any emotion, as Peter walked up without any emotion. It was a split second, until Phantom sensed an intention come from him. She lurched, but the boy already went for his strike. He pulled her close into him, and kissed her on her lips. Phantom stiffed at the kiss, felt herself melt, until she remembered a slight detail. She pushed him off of her gently, immediately regretting that decision once his lips left hers, and then she told him, "You need stop, Peter. You need to remember MJ." Peter leaned his forehead against hers, and stated, "Phantom, I care for MJ. I do, but she's not you. She'll never be you. You'll always be my first love." After he told her that, he leaned down and greatly pressed his lips against hers once again. Phantom gently tried to push him away once again, but Peter grabbed her arm to stop her from halting that moment.

Phantom was puzzled at his action, until she felt him push his feelings more towards her by kissing her more than forcefully. Phantom wanted to fight him a little, but he moved both of them to the wall, holding Phantom in her place, so that Phantom couldn't move away from him. Phantom was surprised by Peter's abrupt behavior. She never saw him as the bold-type, nor did she expect him to make a move on her like he was in that moment. She quickly came to the conclusion that it was either due to his hormonal mix of his male satyriasis and spider's mating, or to release the tension from the build-up in the mind melding that she did years before. Phantom relaxed a little, until she felt Peter push himself closer to her body to combine their forms. Phantom tried to move away from the kiss, as she plead while moaning for him to stop. Peter moved away from her lips, kissed her cheeks, moved down her jawline, and went to her neck. As he worked her neck, he explained, "I can't, Victoria. I can't stop myself. I'm sorry." As Peter kissed and nibbled on her neck, Phantom felt a whole new sexual pleasure then she ever did before. Phantom gripped onto his shirt due to the spikes a pleasure that the boy was sending her. Peter felt his pride spike at how he was making Phantom feel. Peter went back up to her lips as he began to kiss her again. As Peter began to make out with the girl, he took off his shirt, and moved her hands to explore his body. Peter continued to make out with her and move his hands around her torso, until he grazed her side slightly above her hip, which made her body flinch and her whimper. Peter felt his pride spike up once again. He never saw or heard the vulnerable-side of Victoria, and in that moment that was all he wanted to see from her. Phantom saw the challenge in Peter's eyes, and she tried to push him away once again, but Peter wasn't going to let her pride stop them from having their moment.

He grabbed both of her hands and then held both of them above her head as he continued to nibble on her jawline, making her gasp in pleasure and arousal. He returned back to her lips, nibbled on the bottom lip, and after she gasped at his nibbling, Peter stuck his tongue into her mouth. He knew the taste; it was her signature saltwater cherry taffy. Phantom felt her eyes go to the back of her head in ecstasy. While Phantom was distracted by her pleasure, Peter used the moment to take off Phantom's shirt, exposing her body to him. Phantom realized her situation, so she tried covering herself from him. Peter, who already got himself that far, wasn't having any of that, so he pulled arms to wrap them around his neck. Peter kept himself occupied with her lips, as Phantom gripped into Peter's back. Peter felt more arousal by the slight pain that she was giving him. He grabbed her left thigh, lifted it so that her knee was pointing to the sky, and then wrapped both of her legs around his waist. Peter pushed her against the wall, causing friction to occur from her panties and his pajama pants. Both of them gasped at the touch and Phantom tightened her hold on the boy. Peter saw Phantom's expression turn to one of vulnerability, so he pushed his groin against her once again, to see her expression change to one of desire and longing with her weakness along with her holding on to him tighter than before.

Peter used the wall to his advantage to hold Phantom up wall while she held on to his hips, as he nibbled on her jawline, her neck and went down to her breast. He saw her nipples and saw that they were harden and poking out. Peter kissed around the nipple slowly, teasing Phantom and making her moan and squirm at his teasing. After he kissed around the buds, Peter smirked at her reaction and asked her in a low husky voice, "What do you want me to do?" Phantom never saw this darker side of Peter. It did terrify her that he possessed this dark side, but it was also so invigorating and was a huge turn-on. Phantom's arousal grew, so when he heard him ask her what she wanted him to do, she immediately felt embarrassed by the question, but she answered in a low quietly voice, "I want you to… tee…me…" Peter gently flicked her bud, which made her back arch at the touch, and so Peter smirked at the reaction and asked once again, "I didn't quite hear you. Answer me: what do you want me to do?" Phantom looked away from his face and blushed, but Peter brought back her attention, by gently touching her bud and moving it up and down with a single finger, which made her squirm and whimper as she answered him in a louder tone, "I want you to stop teasing me. Please… Peter…" Peter smirked at her shy expression, brought his lips down to her buds, and began to nibble and bite on her left nipple, as he squeezed and played with her right bud. Phantom moaned in pleasure at the boy's actions.

Peter's right hand left her nipple as it slowly went down her torso, which made Phantom squirm. Peter slowly messaged the line that had a wet spot within Phantom's maroon panties up and down. Peter felt something hard at the top of the line, and when Peter grazed it, Phantom's back arched once again as she gasped in pleasure and clawed herself into Peter's back. Peter growled and bit down on Phantom's bud a little hard, which made Phantom's claws dig a little deeper. Peter pulled his face away, lifted Phantom up until her legs were on his shoulders and her private area was in his face. Peter ripped off Phantom's panties, which made Phantom try to cover her private area, but since Peter felt his patience growing thin, so he used his webbing to tie her hands behind her back. Peter gently put her on the ground on her back, lifted her legs so that her knees pointed up to her head, webbed them to stay that way to completely expose her to him and that she couldn't do anything to stop him, and lowered his face to her lower area. Peter glanced up with a smirk to her embarrassed and flushed face. Phantom hated to admit it, she didn't think that she was the S&M type, but now that she experiencing it, she was greatly enjoying it and she didn't want him to stop. (REMEMBER KIDS! IT'S ALL ABOUT CONSENT! HAVE FUN!) Phantom never knew that Peter was the dominating type, but it felt nice to be dominated for a change. Peter glanced down to her womanhood and saw that it was a cute fleshy pink. She was sopping wet, he saw that there was a hard nub at the top of her vagina. Peter remembered some things from over hearing people talk about sex, and he remembered hearing that women were incredibly sensitive at the hard spot called a clitoris. Peter slowly touched the bud, which made Phantom squirm, until Peter squeezed it, which made Phantom's body arch in pleasure as she screamed in delight. Peter went back to teasing her by gently poking her clitoris and running his other finger up and down her vagina. As he did that, Phantom squirmed greatly and quietly begged Peter to stop teasing her, so Peter decided to abide to her request. He lowered face to her entrance, and began to eat her out as he continued to play and squeeze with her clitoris. Phantom did her best to try to conceal her emotions, but her body spoke it all. Her vagina squeezed his tongue greatly while the rest of her body squirmed at his actions. Once he mouth left her vagina, Phantom felt her herself weakening at the man's sexual actions. Peter stopped messaging her clitoris and watched for her reaction. Her gaze said everything. He knew that she wanted him to keep going. Peter slowly and gently inserted two fingers into her. She let out a low moan at the action as her vagina gripped onto fingers tightly. Peter slowly inserted and exited his fingers from vagina, which made Phantom move her hips along to his pace. Peter stopped his pace and watched as Phantom tried to continue to let his fingers ride her. Peter held her form down with his other hand, and then quickened his pace tremendously while watching Phantom's expression change to shock. Both her eyes and her mouth were wide open as her moans came out staggering and her vagina made splurging sounds due to how hot and wet Peter was making her.

Peter then slowed his pace once again which made Phantom try to close her legs as she sighed out, "God." Peter brought his face down once again, and began to flick her clitoris with his own tongue. Once he started, he felt Phantom grip tighten once again around his fingers. He felt himself smirk, and then he continued to flick her clitoris with his tongue and made his fingers go in and out of her as quickly as he could. Phantom lurched her body forward from the immediate action as she screamed and moaned out in pleasure. Peter felt her vagina getting tighter and tighter, until he knew that she was going to cum, so he bit her clitoris and pushed his fingers as deeply into her as he could. Phantom screamed out in ecstasy as she reached her climax. She felt her entire body tighten up, and she even tried to close her legs, but Peter was holding them down with his elbows. As Phantom rid her climax, her whole body shook greatly much to Peter's delight. Phantom's breath was very staggered as her body began to relax.

Peter stood up took off his pants, and Phantom felt her body tingle. She saw how his body had definitely grew. He was muscular body, had toned abs, rippling biceps, and rock hard pecks that even though they looked hard, they looked comfy to lay her head upon. She glanced down to his engorged erection and the sight made her squeeze her legs in anticipation. Peter noticed her reaction to his phallus and smirked. Peter brought her up to her knees with her limbs still webbed together. Peter brought her face up to his genitalia. Phantom went to tend to it, but Peter stopped her. She was confused by his action, until he asked, "What do you want to do?" Phantom glanced up him and begged, greatly enjoying being the submission-type, "Please, I want to please you too." Peter smirked at her and led to his phallus. She gently kissed the sides of his penis up and down, until she reached his testicles. She gently sucked his testicles as Peter stroke his penis. After a moment, Peter led Phantom's mouth to his tip. She was a little reluctant, but Peter squeezed her cheeks to make her open her mouth as he inserted his dick into her mouth. Phantom sucked his penis gently as she sucked it slowly up and down from the tip to halfway down the base. She kept going until she felt like getting Peter back for the little stunt he pulled early, so she stopped sucking and began to lick, lightly kiss, and overall tease the tip of Peter's penis. Peter knew exactly what she was trying to do, so he grabbed both sides of her head and then pushed himself deep into her mouth and partially down her throat. Both Phantom and Peter's eyes both rolled to the back of their heads in pleasure. The floor beneath Phantom got incredibly wet. Peter recovered from his pleasured state, and noticed the floor beneath Phantom, so he smirked, cocked his eyebrow, and asked confidently, "Did you just cum?" Phantom didn't answer him, so Peter began to push and pull himself in and out as he began to have intercourse with her deep-throat style. Both Phantom and Peter moaned in pleasure as they kept going. Peter noticed that Phantom's eyes were beginning to water to from the action, so quickened his pace as he felt his buildup grow. Finally the dam of pleasure broke for Peter as he empty his load deep within her throat. Phantom felt her body tighten up once again as more liquid poured onto the floor beneath her and her eyes rolled to the back of her head. The taste was that of a salty goo with a sweet undertone that acted as an aphrodisiac. Phantom slowly swallowed the cum pouring deep within throat as Peter slowly pulled himself out of her mouth. As he did, the remainder of his semen came dripping out of her mouth, which aroused Peter greatly.

Peter picked Phantom up and webbed up a rope that held up Phantom from her midriff from a rope that went around her waist. Peter came up to her from her back. She felt his pulsating cock pushing itself against her ass, which make her lubrication stream down her legs in excitement. Peter lifted Phantom's legs in order to give himself a better position. Peter held onto one of her legs while she used her strength to keep the other up to the same level as the other. Peter greatly and slowly rubbed the tip of his rigid cock against the entrance of her vagina. Phantom tried to move her form towards the enlarged penis in order to insert it. Peter slowly entered himself into her warm and moist area as she let out a deep moan at the size and girth of man entering her. Peter barely entered himself halfway, and Phantom already found herself shaking at his size. Peter lowered his head down to her right side of her head and whispered, "Are you prepared?" Phantom moaned and whimpered as her answer. Peter slowly pulled himself out to tease her, then he bit onto the back of her neck as he rammed himself into her. Phantom deeply inhaled and pulled her head back in pleasure as she thought she felt his full size within her vaginal area. Peter felt her walls clenched hard onto his dick, which made him bite down onto her neck harder almost causing blood to exit. Peter began to push and pull himself at a slowly and easy pace. This pace continued as Peter grasped onto her thighs tightly, causing a little pleasurable pain towards Phantom and formed some bruises.

Peter felt as if he wanted to go deeper, so he pulled Phantom's rope off, gently laid her on her back while sticking her hips into the air, and then reinserting himself deeper than he had before. Phantom began to moan a little too loudly, so Peter wrapped his hand around her throat and gave it a light squeeze, making her go a tad silent due to her lack of breath, but an unsuspected, but welcomed result was that her vagina clenched onto him harder than before which made Peter quicken his pace once again. Peter wanted to go even deeper, so he held onto Phantom as he kept himself inside of her and went onto his back. Peter grabbed her by her hips, pushed her up and then pulled her all the way down to completely fill himself in her and inserted himself into her womb. Phantom knocked out for a small moment and foamed at the mouth due to the intense feeling that Peter had just given her. Peter then began to move his hips up and down, which brought Phantom back from her darkened state and made her breathe heavy and moan. The sounds of both of their moans filled the room along with the slapping and splurging sound from the contact of their bodies. Peter quickened his pace greatly and tried to go deeper and deeper as he continued to fuck Phantom, who thought she was going crazy from this interaction. Peter felt that he reached his limit, so he pushed himself as deep as he could into Phantom while he shot his giant load into the depths of Phantom's womb. The feeling of hot liquid filled Phantom, which had her pussy tightened around his engorged cock as she and Peter climaxed together. Peter felt his body relax as he looked up to see Phantom with her head thrown back, her legs trying to close together, and her entire body was shaking. Peter gently put Phantom on her back and proceeded to pull himself out of her until she moaned for him to do more to her, "Please, Peter. More… more… I want you to pleasure me in ways I could never imagine. Make me unable to forget you and your sexual prowess." Peter smirked at her plea and positioned himself, rammed himself back to be deep inside her womb once again, as he replied as she screamed from the movement, "More than happy to."

END LEMONS

END LEMONS

END LEMONS

* * *

After an additional thirty minutes of mind-blowing sex, the two adults finally thought that enough was enough. Peter wanted to continue, but Phantom managed to convince him that if they would have continued, there was no way they were going to stop until Thanos arrived. Phantom proceeded to try to stand up, but her legs were extremely weak and she was shaking whenever she tried. Peter helped her put on her shirt, but sadly looked at the pitiful excuse that was her underwear and stated, "Sorry about your underwear." Phantom told him it was way more than fine with what all they did. Phantom looked down at her body that was going to be exposed when she puts on her uniform. She had hickies all over her body, bruises from where Peter had held her when they were intimate, spanked her, and choked her, and the rope burns along her wrists, torso, and thighs from the webbing. Peter had claw marks all over his back as well with his own love bites curtesy of Phantom. After a moment, Phantom finally got used to the numbing pain that came from her legs while she kept standing with Peter's help. Peter got himself dressed and then the two helped each other back to where the others were. When they came back, Tony was about to address both the kids, but when he saw their bodies, he decided to keep his mouth shut. Phantom limped herself over to the clothing and pulled out another pair of maroon panties and put them on. Both of the young adults crawled into bed and got comfy with one another. Peter took off his shirt, because he knew that Phantom's body heat was going make him hotter than his usual temperature. Phantom laid her head on his hard chest and snuggled into him as close as she could. Peter put his arms around her, kissed the top of her head, and then the both of them relaxed and Peter began to fall asleep. Although she was extremely tired, Phantom couldn't fall asleep. The mind was too focused at the potential problems that Earth might be facing without her leadership and protection. "I hope you'll all be okay. Keep them safe and remember your promises, Sunny."

* * *

Back on Earth, around the time that Phantom and the others were fighting the three aliens, on the other side of the world, aliens were heading to Sweden to obtain Vision. After being injured and nearly unable to fight, leaving only Wanda to defend him. A train passed behind Wanda, and the female alien noticed a figure on the other side of the tracks. The alien felt the threat from the figure, so she threw her weapon towards it, but only for him to move to the side and catch it. The figure then stepped into the spotlight to reveal that it was Steve Rogers. The other Exvengers came together to fight off the two aliens, and before the male could strike out Natasha a giant sword got in his way. Everyone looked at the man who intercepted the attack and only two of the Exvengers knew who he was. The man had dark brown hair that was a little longer than normal, giving them a prince-charming kind of quaff and vibe, sea green eyes, what seemed to look-line a normal boy charm face. He had a flexible silver shining armor that had vibranium laced in and a long sword that was made from vibranium on the inside, and the outside was a combination of white gold and vibranium to give it a lustrous shine with the strength of the rest of the sword. The knight lifted his sword along with his opponents, throwing the female alien off of her balance, and going for the kill with a lunge, but the alien was too fast and already had moved to the side where another fighter was waiting for her. He had a jade-encrusted naginata that had a jewel on the blade. The inside of the naginata was made from vibranium, but much like the sword that the knight bore, there was an outer material to decorate the weapon to the user. The man had a long black beard and long black hair. He also had on a dark red samurai armor to match the colors of the Pack. Both the samurai warrior and the knight went head on against the aliens. The Exvengers joined into the fight once they saw that several of the mercenaries surrounded Vision, ready to defend the stone with their lives. The warriors managed to corner the aliens to the ground together. The female alien told the male to get up, but when he say he couldn't, the warriors moved forward ready to kill the outsiders. Natasha told them that they'll kill them if they have to and the warriors moved forward as the samurai explained, "We have orders to kill you." They both lunged for the aliens, but they both went back to their ship from a light blue light before the warriors could strike.

The knight sheathed his sword as the samurai covered the blade of the naginata with a black cloth lined with vibranium and a special fiber that Phantom manufactured in order to cover attacks by vibranium-based weapons. The knight ran over, checked on the conditions of Vision, and told him, "Mr. Vision, it is now time. We are to escort you back to Wakanda, where her majesty will repair you in your current condition." Steve stepped forward to the knight and interjected, "Not yet. We need to make a stop first." The knight glanced at the samurai, who nodded his head at the knight. The knight used the com that was on his ear and contacted his commander, "Lord Wukong. I have the objective, but we are currently with some adversaries. We need to make an unplanned detour and then we will report to you right away." Sun told him that it was alright, the rest of the Pack was still heading to Wakanda, and that they needed to head to Wakanda immediately afterwards. The knight acknowledged his orders and stopped the communication line. The knight stood up, gave his knightly bow, and introduced himself, "I am Sir Knight Gawain. I was the former Guild Master of the Knights Guild, but now I am the known as the 'Maiden's Knight.' Serving under my Lady and Master: Phantom of the Erinyes. It is a pleasure to meet you all." The samurai stepped forward did a full body bow, like the Japanese did, and greeted to the Exvengers, "Hello to all. My name is Izanagi and I am the current Master of Bai Lingua. Even though the Pack is led by the Masters of the Nine Guilds, we Guild Masters follow Phantom as our own private Master. I will assist you, but if your interest contradicts hers, I will quickly strike you all down with Amenonuhoko. The weapon that Phantom helped design and reform herself." Steve and Natasha both nodded their heads at the threat as a sign of their acknowledgement, and they all went to the ship as the Knight, Gawain, assisted Vision to their aircraft. As the Exvengers flew out, Natasha began to scold Wanda about not following their deal. Wanda tried to justify her actions, but she knew that it wasn't reason enough. Sam asked Steve where they were going and Steve glanced around and only said one word, "Home." Izanagi went to the aircraft that he, Gawain, and the others came in and followed the Exvengers back to their home.

After a long flight, the Exvengers and members of the Pack made their ways back to the Avengers base. All of them walked in together as Rhodey and Secretary Ross were staring each other down after Rhodey told Ross that he had regrets about the Accords. Ross walked up to the Exvengers and told them that they had some nerve showing their faces. Natasha told him that he could've used some of that. Ross noticed Gawain, he asked, "Where's your Master?" Gawain said nothing, but only narrowed his eyes as his threat for Ross to watch what he says about Phantom. Ross took the threat and asked the Exvengers if all was forgiven, but Steve told him, "I'm not looking for forgiveness. And I'm way past asking for permission. Earth just lost her best defenders. So we're here to fight. And if you want to stand in our way we'll fight you too." Ross glanced at the Exvengers, until the sound of clapping erupted within a room that was connected. Everyone glanced over to see an the overly friendly leader of the Pack, Sun Wukong, clapping his hands as he walked over to the group. As he walked he explained, "What an exciting development. That speech was really unexpected from you, Cap. Now Ross, I know you want all of us arrested for… various reasons, but you're gonna need all the help you can get. Oh, and one more thing: You try talking about Phantom, ever again… I rip your limps off. One. By. One." Throughout most of the speech, Sun had his overall cheery attitude until he reached his threat to Ross about Phantom. His attitude was as dark as Phantom's whenever she threatened someone. Ross felt the threat, told Rhodey to arrest them all, which Rhodey lied to tell him that he was all over it, and ended the call. Sun looked over to the Exvengers and greeted in his polite manners as the Leader of the Pack, "Hi Rogers. Romanoff. Maximoff. Wilson." Rhodey went over to the Exvengers gave friendly greetings. A stranger spoke up from his spot, walked to be beside Sun Wukong, and stared into Natasha's eyes, "Uh, I think you look great. Yeah, I'm back." Natasha greeted him, which took Bruce's breath away as he fidgeted and replied her name as he greeting. Everyone was silent, until Sam said that the situation was awkward, which Sun agreed with, "Yes. Yes it is."

Everyone led into the lounge area. After they got settled, Sun and Steve showed their footages that contained visuals of the enemy aliens. After Sun showed his footage, he went over and examined the android and the amount of damaged. After he examination, Sun joked around with the android by stating, "Woah-ha-ho. This is some collateral. The princess can fix you up in a jiffy. What happened? Did you get 'distracted,' again?" After his joke, he watched the old "Avengers" try to catch poor Bruce up. Bruce told them that Thanos had the biggest army in the universe and that he wasn't going to stop until he got Vision's stone. Natasha went forward and stated that they need to protect it, but Vision was quick to tell them that they needed to destroy it. Sun narrowed his eyes at the android after he suggested that. After he explained how they all could it, Wanda told him that she wasn't going to do it. Vision glanced over to Sun Wukong and told him, "Your guilds could destroy it. If you use refined lasers of the Hadron Cannons, it could generate a similar reaction as Wanda performing the act. Or even the FLEIJA Warhead that Phantom has developed. If altered, the reaction could-" Sunny was quick to shut down the thought, and he corrected, "No. Phantom entrusted you, her weaponry, medicines, and the Pack to my care. I will not cause the destruction of her property." Bruce saw the protectiveness of Sun Wukong, and suggested that Vision could be Vision without the Stone. When Natasha asked if he could do that, but Bruce told them that he couldn't, not in that current situation. Rhodey told them that they needed to find someone who could do it. Both Steve and Sun both suggested that they knew who could do it. Everyone nodded and then flooded out to go to their location. As Sun walked out, Gawain approached him and asked, "Lord Wukong, not to undermine you, but Vision is the Guardian of the Infinity Stone. Is it wise to separate them? If all goes according to their plans, the stone will be destroyed. That means that Phantom will become upset by the destruction of her property." Sun and Gawain kept walking as Sun responded, "If Vision is separated from the stone, that gives us an opportunity to obtain the stone permanently for Phantom. They believe the stone should be destroyed, but I know we could keep it safe. Let them separate the machine from the stone. Once they secure it, we'll confiscate the stone, claim that we will destroy it, and then destroy the threats that lie in Phantom's wake." Gawain nodded his head at Sun Wukong's plan and then all of them headed out to Wakanda.

While they went on their way, Chaos was told to escort The King of Wakanda to retrieve a human weapon that could help turn the tides of the battle. Chaos walked with T'Challa and his Royal Guard to a remote area with a single hut house. There were several farm animals around the area. As she glanced down to the farm, she saw some children climbing and playing in a tree, while there was a single man throwing hay to feed the animals with a single arms. As they walked, T'Challa asked, "So has all of Phantom's army arrived yet?" Chaos kept walking as she answered, "Most of Phantom's army is here. Some of the others are still coming. All of Phantom's might will not be there for reasons I do not fully comprehend. You will need to ask the current head of the Pack and he will tell you." T'Challa nodded his head as he and Chaos walked forward, while Bucky walked up to see why there were visitors to his farm. The box was opened and Bucky saw that there was a metallic arm with a pressed hyacinth on top of it. He sighed, because he knew that it was the same flower that he wave Victoria a few years prior and it was her way of as an apology and a summoning to fight. He glanced up to T'Challa and Chaos and asked, "Where's the fight?" T'Challa told him that it was on its way. He glanced over to Chaos and asked about Phantom's whereabouts by only asking her name. Chaos stated, "Gone. Wukong is head of the Pack in her stead." Bucky raised his eyebrow at Chaos' statement about Phantom and he asked, "She coming?" Chaos only lowered her head and replied, "We'll find out." Bucky nodded his head, but then T'Challa tells them that he received word from Sun Wukong and that they needed to head to the Capital immediately. Bucky nodded his head at the information, put on the new metallic arm and the new suit, and placed the flower in his chest pocket near his arm. Once he finished, they all headed back to the Capital to assemble for the final fight.

Once the Exvengers and Sun's crew arrived, everyone saw that T'Challa and the royal guard were all waiting outside for them all to arrive. The Pack jet was the one to land first and they exited the plain first. T'Challa did a slight bow to Sun Wukong, due to the threat that the Pack over the World and over Wakanda. The other members of the Royal Guards went down on one knee as their sign of loyalty to the Pack. When the Avengers landed, Sun Wukong waved his hand to the Wakandans, which was his indication for them to stand and that they didn't need to ow to him anymore. The Avengers walked out and Bruce bowed to T'Challa, which T'Challa told Bruce that they didn't do that in Wakanda. Steve raised his eyebrow, because he saw the Wakandans bowing and kneeling to Sun Wukong and the Pack. As everyone walked forward, T'Challa gave the progress report about what all Wakanda had to offer. When Bucky came forward, he and Steve hugged. While they did that, T'Challa glanced at Sun and asked, "Are your entire forces here and ready to fight?" Sun kept his eyes forward and responded, "Anyone who is joining this fight is already here and ready. The seven guilds are here and assembled. Our leader, Phantom, unfortunately is unable to join us due to her current unknown location in space. Whether she is going to join us in the middle of battle is unsure. She will be handling the enemy from wherever she is." T'Challa nodded at Sun's information. Sun made a gesture that only signaled three fingers in the air, and then three members of Phantom's private squad surrounded Vision and assisted him into the castle to get his examination by Shuri. Once they arrived, the soldiers put Vision on his back upon the examination bed gently. Shuri scanned over Visions body and finally his stone. It revealed that the stone and the body were polymorphic. Bruce explained that they had to construct Vision's neurons non-sequentially, which made Shuri ask why didn't they reprogram the synapses to work collectively. Vision looked at Bruce with query in his eyes, but Bruce felt stupid for a moment and he said that he didn't think of that. Shuri assured/teased him by stating that he did his best. Wanda asked if she could do it. Shuri told her that she could, but since there were over two trillion neurons in there, how one mistake can cause circuit failure, that she would need some time. When Shuri answered Steve's question about how long she needed, Okoye's beads went off signaling that something had entered the Earth's atmosphere. Sun turned the Pack Guild Masters and Zero Squad and acted as the commander of the army by giving his orders. "Four Celestial Beast. I want you four here to protect Vision and her Majesty. Remember our orders. Nothing is to happen to the Stone. All Guild members except for those in Yavane Yam and Archers are to go fight in the front lines. Nothing is to go past us. Destroy anything that wishes to take what belongs to us. Use any means necessary and if you need to use something extreme that you never would do, do it. Protect the stone and your own lives. Yavene-Yam: I want you all in medical standbye. You all have healing abilities that can heal others, so if anyone gets seriously hurt or to near death, you are to bring them back up to a full fighting performance stature. Archers: you are to be stationed with the Hadron Cannons and shoot down whatever you can. Zero Squad, I want you next to me in the front line. Phantom always was next to all of us, just as willing to risk her life as the rest of us. I will do the same as the Leader of the Pack and I want you all by my side. We either die our way, or live theirs, and I CHOOSE TO FIGHT AND LIVE OR DIE OUR WAY!" Everyone yelled and cheered as they ran outside to prepare and man their post for the upcoming battle. As they ran out, Sun looked over the Avengers and stated with a serious look that anybody hardly ever saw, "May Phantom's fighting spirit be with us all."

* * *

Peter was the first to wake up from his nap. His body was extremely relaxed, probably from releasing at the built up tension with Phantom yesterday. He glanced down to see her still asleep. "This is probably the most relaxed she's probably been since… probably from a long time. I'll just let her rest a bit longer," Peter thought as he kissed the top of her head. He slowly and softly got out of bed, tucked Phantom in, and got dressed in his suits. After Peter was fully dressed, the ship began to descend, which caused the ship the shake enough to cause Phantom out of bed. Phantom quickly ran over to the clothing crate, pulled out a clean pair of underwear, put them on as quickly as she could, and then pulled out a clean suit for fighting. As she changed, she yelled, "You guys seriously couldn't wake me up?! Especially you, Peter?! You're completely dressed already!" After she was dressed, Dr. Strange formed a force field in order to protect all of them as Peter and Tony tried to control the ship's steering. After Phantom got irritated, but pushed the men away and used her abilities to try to land the plane, but she only did slightly better than the men did before her.

After she crashed landed the ship, Phantom made sure that her crates, cargo, and special supplies were all still safe and unbroken. After she did that, Peter came down and stated, "Let me just say, if aliens wind up implanting eggs in my chest or something and I eat one of you, I'm sorry." Tony told him that he didn't want to hear another pop culture reference out of Peter for the rest of the trip, and then Peter explained he was warning them that something was coming. Peter raised an eyebrow until she heard rustling coming from a single side. She drew her scythe and yelled, "Dammit Peter, you couldn't just say that?!"

While she drew her weapon, a small sphere bomb went into the middle of the group and exploded causing them all to go in different directions. Phantom used her scythe to keep put some fiction in the directional force. Phantom ran to the direction of Peter and when she saw what seemed to be a female alien with antennas going for Peter, she knew that she had to quickly act. She ran over to Peter, saw that Peter webbed the alien while attempting to escape, so she ran up to the alien, wrapped the handle of the scythe around the female alien's neck, and threw the form above her and away from Peter. After she did that, she ran over to the alien, placed her foot on the alien's neck, and then applied a little pressure to show her threat. Phantom glanced up and saw that Peter was captured by an enemy within a mask. The enemy with a mask that had Peter as a hostage yelled, "Everybody stay where you are. Chill the eff out. I'm gonna ask you this one time. Where is Gamora?" Tony feeling the threat of Peter's life, challenged, "Yeah. I'll do you one better? Who's Gamora?" The guy under Tony wanted to feel threatening, so he yelled, "I'll do you one better. Why is Gamora?" Phantom, fearing for the worse yelled, "Look, we don't know who or what you're talking about. She, or he, is obviously not here and we don't know who exactly you are talking about, so you questioning about said person leads to this impasse. Let's approach this situation delicately. I have a solution, you let us go: we'll let you go. Everyone wins. If you choose to approach this in a different way, I'll rip off your limbs one by one, and take your eyes out of their sockets just enough to watch yourselves dies. So what do you say? Is an unanswerable question worth the lives of your teammates?" Phantom emphasized her point by apply a bit of pressure to Mantis' neck, causing the alien to choke.

Quill saw the deep threat within Phantom's eyes, held his blaster closer to Peter, and yelled, "Tell me where the girl is or I swear to you I'm gonna French fry this little freak." Tony called his threat and challenged, "Let's do it. You shoot my guy and I'll blast him. Let's go!" Phantom felt her visions blow past of mind, all of nightmares of her Peter dying, and Mantis, who was observing her capturer, saw the memories and screamed at the visions in pain. Phantom glanced down to the girl, thought of her situation, and had a small idea. Phantom glanced down and made herself remember when she found out that her father was alive and what the emotions did to her. After she did that, the alien screamed out in pain, and that's when Phantom knew and she whispered her realization, "She's an empath." Phantom yelled out one last time, "Let him go, now. Last chance." The man only kept his gaze and gun where they were. Phantom grabbed one of the glowing antennas, and was about to send the vision, when the shirtless greenish with orange alien told his leader to shoot and that he could take it. The female below Phantom yelled that he couldn't, and Dr. Strange agreed. Phantom whispered, "I tried to warn you," and then she sent her memories of when she was crushed by the Hulk into the empath's mind. The empath screamed and withered in agony as she experienced Phantom's memories. Phantom glanced up at the leader, and he yelled at her, "Oh, yeah? You don't wanna tell me where she is? That's fine. I'll kill all four of you and I'll beat it out of Thanos myself. Starting with you." As soon as they heard "Thanos," all of the Earth adults knew that they weren't enemies, but could possibly be allies. Dr. Strange asked what master they served, Quill sassed them with a Jesus comment, and Tony concluded that he was from Earth. The leader told them that he was from Missouri, and Tony asked what they were hassling the Avengers for. Peter finally caught up to the thought process and realization that the other Avenger's had and asked, which made the Guardian's ask who they were. Phantom leaned down, gently placed her hand on Mantis' head, and sent her calming memories of Earth, like when she was a young child and gentle snow was coming down while she whispered her apology.

The leader asked who they were, Peter dropped his mask, and told him that they were the Avengers, while Phantom commented, "They're the Avengers. I am actually the Leader of the Pack." Mantis, while being helped up, exclaimed, "You're the ones that Thor told us about." Tony, Strange, and Phantom all glanced at the woman, and Tony asked, "You know Thor?" Quill nodded his head and responded, "Yeah. Tall guy, not that good-looking, needed saving." Peter made a strange face at the comment about that Quill made about Thor not being that 'good-looking.' Strange asked where Thor was in that moment. Quill explained, "Thor's at Nidavellir. He went for…" Phantom was quick to interrupt him, "Nidavellir? As in the famous Nidavellir of Norse Mythology? The place that makes the finest weapons that Asgard had ever had? That Nidavellir?" Quill nodded at her and responded, "He went to get a weapon that could kill Thanos. Our teammate, Rocket, went with him." Phantom nodded at the knowledge and stated, "It is the finest forgery in the Universe. I hope he gets that weapon, and soon." Everyone nodded at her statement.

Phantom was the first to break the silent tension by retracting her scythe into the suit, picked up her swords, went to over to Quill, extended her hand, and greeted, "Hello. My name is Phantom. I am the Guild Master of the Erinyes and one of the Leaders of the Pack on Earth. All I have are my supplies and fighting skills to assist you in the battle against Thanos." Quill took her hand and greeted, "I'm Starlord. Leader of the Guardians of the Galaxy. You will have the support of my team and weapons." Phantom nodded her head at his greeting, let go of his hand, nodded at the other members of the team, and then went over to her crates. She pulled out a foldable table, her samples of the stones and chitauri blood, lots of mechanical parts, and a large container. Phantom build her work area as Dr. Strange approached her, "What are you assembling?" Phantom barely glanced at him as she responded, "A Hadron Cannon and a warhead that I developed a little while ago." Phantom walked over to Tony and requested, "Stark, I need an arc reactor. Don't ask why, I just need one." Tony knew better than to try to question or argue with her, so he gave her an extra arc reactor that he had. Phantom ran over to the Guardian ship, grabbed the explosives that they possessed, and then went back to her work station. Before she began to assemble her weapons, she glanced over to Dr. Strange and saw that he was using the Time Stone and that his head and body were flinching periodically. She walked up to him, put her hand on his shoulder, and the stone sent the future visions into her mind. She saw all the visions and timelines that she didn't want to pass. Every time, she saw Thanos win, slay her, her Guild, her friends and even her family. Each vision was worse than the one before. Mantis glanced over to the two and asked the other Earthlings, "Excuse me. But do your friends often do that?" Tony approached and yelled, "Phantom, Strange, we all right?" Tony walked up to the two and when he was within reach, Dr. Strange came back while Phantom watched the last vision that Dr. Strange didn't get to see.

After she was brought back, using the newly found motivation, she ran over to her workstation and began to assemble her weapons as quickly as possible, while being the upmost care. Peter walked up and watched as Phantom began to assemble. He saw that she had several tiny test tubes that had glowing gravel sized specks within them: blue, yellow, green, and finally red. Peter gently picked up the yellow one and asked, "What are these?" Phantom took out another differently shaped glass container that had four sides and a cylinder in the middle. Phantom took out a giant container that had clear gooey-type liquid, and filled all of the four sides with the goo, while keeping the cylinder empty. She put the Chitauri blood in the middle cylinder, and then put coils around the outside of the container. She then wired the arc reactor to the wires, without turning it on. Phantom put each color of speck in each side, and then sealed it up. After she did that, she gently placed the bomb in an area that wouldn't affect her line of work. She began to work on the Hadron Cannon, while Quill walked up, picked up the bomb carelessly, and questioned, "What the hell is this?" Enormous fear erupted within Phantom's eyes as she tried to carefully take the bomb back as she explained, "THAT IS A BOMB! WORSE THAN HYROSHIMA TYPE OF BOMB! IT HAS THE POWER TO OBLITERATE THIS PLANET AND TURN IT INTO A PERMANENT CRESCENT MOON! GENTLY GIVE IT TO ME OR PUT IT DOWN!"

Quill flinched at her loud and fear filled voice, and she gently took the bomb from him. She gently place it back to where it was before while she explained, "This bomb, theoretically, has the power to absorb, separate, and disperse energy. One of those specks, when activated has the destruction power to erase Boston, Massachusetts. I put five specks of each color in that thing, how much do you think it will destroy? The specks need a powerful spark, or heat signature, to activate them. That's what the reactor's for. The Chitauri blood, while also highly explosive, is incredibly adhesive. When the energy destroys the fragile glass in the middle the specks will come into contact with the blood, stick together, and with the energy of the arc reactor, will cause them to activate. Their energy absorbs other energy sources and once they overfill, it get sent outward, finally showing the absorb, separate, and dispersion." Peter, who overheard her entire scientific explanation, asked, "Why you did make that?" Phantom went back to creating her Hadron Cannon, and as she worked, she explained, "Contingency Plan. If we fail, Dr. Strange is to take all of away and…" Tony didn't allow her to finish that statement as he finished, "And you activate the bomb. A powerful enough force to destroy the stones and…" Phantom gently disagreed with them and stated, "No, it's not. While the bomb is powerful enough to destroy the planet, the stone are a different matter. Only another stone or creation of a full stone can destroy another. Trust me, we tried. My bomb would only destroy about five specks on each of the stones that they represent, but it can't destroy the whole stone. The explosion would only destroy organic matter, meaning this planet and Thanos would perish, but the gauntlet and stones would remain." Peter began to ask her, "But what about you?" Phantom continued to work as she stated, "Small sacrifices are necessary. Two lives for trillions upon trillions of lives? Truly it's an easy choice." Tony stepped forward and asked, "Victoria." Phantom quickly shot that down and stated, "That's not my name." Tony was quick to argue, "You're going to die." Phantom kept working as she replied, "I'm more than willing to die." Tony grabbed her and made her face him as he yelled, "Steve needs you alive, Peter needs you alive, Your Father Needs You Alive, VICTORIA, I NEED YOU ALIVE!" Phantom quickly batted his hands away as she threatened, "CALL ME VICTORIA ONE MORE TIME!" Peter went forward to them and silently asked, "Victoria?" Phantom glanced at him and stated to everyone, "I've been ready for years. Peter, I've told you before. The biggest and hardest lesson you will ever have to learn. You can't save everyone. As a hero you have to save the majority. If one heroes dies saving people, then they did their tasks." After she said that, everyone remained quiet as she finished manufacturing the Hadron Cannon. After she finished the cannon, she had Dr. Strange take her to other side of the planet, she buried the bomb deep within the ground, and then return to the others as Quill laid out his plan.

* * *

(BACK TO WAKANDA)

After everyone had received their orders, they all began to file out to the destination of where the fight was going to take place. Phantom's armies came in last and filled the cracks of the formations. Sun stepped to front of them all as the representative of both Phantom and Leader of the Pack. When Steve, Natasha, and T'Challa all stepped forward to go talk politics to the invaders Sun Wukong joined them, knowing already that the enemy wasn't going to surrender and neither could they. When they arrived, Natasha glanced at the two invaders and asked the female, "Where's your other friend?" The female alien told them that they were going to pay for his life with theirs and Sun, being the absolute smug bastard he was, questioned, "And what if someone already has our life?" The alien ignored him and told them that Thanos will have that stone, Sun stated, "Not gonna happen. That stone already belongs to the person who has my soul." T'Challa tried to threaten the intruders, when the alien told them that they had blood to spare, and Sun, who knew Phantom, stated something that she would say, "So do we." The female alien made a signal raising her sword to the air, causing the ships to open and reveal their bio weaponry that jumped to the woods as they roared. Steve, Natasha, T'Challa, and Sun returned back to the army. T'Challa yelled at the army in Wakandan that many of the non-speakers couldn't understand. The aliens ran out of the forest and went headfirst to the force field. The impact caused many of them to die, but the others that didn't tried to go through causing them to split. The ones that made it through and remained alive, went forward to strike, but T'Challa used the bombardon to shield him and the Wakandan soldiers, while he gave the order to shoot the remaining aliens, as did Sun who yelled out, "Take them down." Sun Wukong was the one who noticed that the aliens were about to circle around, probably in hope to strike them from the back, so Sun yelled out, "Hadron Cannons, strike down the port and star bough side with wide range rays until you receive my signal to stop." Next thing anyone knew, three Stark Hadron Cannons fired from the outside of the barrier fired, making contact with the aliens causing their cells to overfill and implode upon themselves. One of the elite soldiers who was part of Phantom's personal squad asked, "Lord Wukong, maybe we should consider firing the F.L.E.I.J.A. warhead? This would be the ideal time to do it." T'Challa was the first to shut down the idea stating that since this warhead hasn't been used to its full capacity that it might be able to destroy the barrier and possibly destroy villages in the outer regions of Wakanda. Sun was the next to shut it down, "I won't make that order. The F.L.E.I.J.A. is Phantom's personal weapon and she will be the one to order when it is to be fired." Steve asked how long the Hadron Cannons would last and Sun told them they barely had ten minutes.

T'Challa knew that with their power, they could take out the enemy, so he ordered to open the barrier. While the barrier opened, everyone, except for Sunny, prepared themselves as T'Challa warcried, "WAKANDA FOREVER!" Everyone, except for Pack members, yelled out their war cries and dashed forward to the enemy. Bucky and Suns stood in their places as the others went forward. Bucky glanced towards Sun Wukong and saw that he was taking off his wristlets, his collar, his ankles braces, and finally his diadem. Once he removed said article of clothing, their weight was so heavy, that once they hit the ground, they immediately sunk into the ground. Aliens made their way towards Sun Wukong, and when Bucky brought up gun to fire, Sun just raised his hand to stop him. Sun drew his bo staff slowly, and when the alien got close enough, Sun swung the bo single-handedly almost like flicking a stick. Bucky saw the alien's body crush to immense force so hard that he could even hear bones crushing from a distant of at least five feet. Sun Wukong didn't even flinch when blue blood gushed from the alien's body and splattered over Sunny's face and body. The creature shriek and fell from the pain that it had to endure and landed in front of Sunny at his feet. Sun brought his staff up a little, and then allowed gravity to do it's thing, crushing the alien's head as a result. The alien's head crushed, splattering it's cranium membrane, blood, and brain across the ground and onto Sun's legs and feet. Sun tried to bring up his staff, but the blood has such an elastic quality, that it was trying to keep it to the ground. Sun used a little more strength, causing the blood to unstick leaving a little bit of its essence on Sunny's staff. Since Bucky and Sunny were used to gore, they really didn't react to it, but some of the Wakandan soldiers', who have never seen such a sight, saw this, felt their stomachs churn at the sight. Sunny turned to the Pack, who hadn't moved from their spots, raised his eyebrow and stated without emotion, "You can fight now." The Pack members yelled out their war cries and sprinted forward to where the fighting was while Sun tried to wipe off the blood from his face. As Sun wiped the blood from his face, he glanced over to the battlefield and he noticed that the tides were turning to the Earthling's favor.

* * *

(BACK TO TITAN)

Thanos arrived to the devastated planet and glanced around to see the destruction of his previous home. While he glance around, until he heard Dr. Strange state, "Oh, yeah. You're much more of a Thanos." Thanos glanced over to see Dr. Strange sitting down in front of him, making the appearance as if he was exhausted. Thanos asked Strange that Maw, the old grey alien, was dead. Thanos said aloud that the day had a heavy toll for him, while Phantom wanted to scoff at the idea as she remained hidden in her spot. Thanos complimented how Maw managed to bring the stone to him. Dr. Strange threatened, "You may regret that. He brought you face-to-face with the Master of the Mystic Arts." Phantom listened in carefully, and she heard everyone getting into his or her positions. They were very quiet, but some were a tad sloppy, especially compared to what she was used to. Thanos asked where Strange thought where they were. Dr. Strange made his every educated guess that they were in Thanos home planet. Thanos smirked at the question, reminisced, told him that it was, and then used the Reality Stone to recreate the planet when it was in its prime. As he made the illusion, he explained how it came to ruin and his resolution to the problem. To Phantom, the resolution made complete sense. While it was heartless and sounded insane, from a scientific and outside view: it made sense and was a great solution to overpopulation. In Phantom's mind, she was doing something similar, but she was doing it by waging a war and killing off people. In her mind, war and genocide were two great ways to balance the population, even if it was gruesome. While he was talking, Phantom had to move from her spot, because she was going to be seen since he changed the scenery. When he stated that he was a survivor, Phantom thought about how much they were actually alike, but he was a more radical version of her. After he explained his plan with the stones, he called it "mercy," which made Phantom scoff and think, "'Mercy,' really? Maybe mercy to you, but not as much as everyone else. If there was a time frame before-hand to allow people to say goodbye to one another, then it could called mercy, but any other way, is just cruel. I'm a hypocrite, though. I take lives on a whim. The most evil can come from the greatest intentions. Even in the brightest light, there will always be a shadow. You'll always be a villain, in someone's eyes." Dr. Strange asked what Thanos is going to do, Thanos told him that he'll finally rest and watch the universe. His delusions made Phantom cringe, and his statement about how the hardest choices required the strongest wills, which made Phantom whisper to herself, "They sure do."

Dr. Strange counter the statement while activating his powers, "I think you'll find our will equal to yours." Thanos questioned the subjective, until he saw a growing shadow on the ground and glanced up. While Tony brought down the giant broken building, Phantom placed both of her hands palms down and sent spikes over to Thanos, causing to vines made of stone to rise up from the ground and wrap themselves around Thanos' body. Phantom noticed that Thanos activated the purple Infinity Stone, which was one she didn't recognize, so she assumed that it was going to destroy Tony's attack. Phantom heard Tony say that it was easy to Quill, as the others sprang forward ready to fight. Thanos broke away the building and Phantom's grip with the purple stone, she noticed that he gripped it into a tight fist and the color changed to red like the Reality Stone. She saw that the rubble turn into giant bats, that went after Tony. After Thanos did that, Phantom nodded her head at Peter, who swung forward and webbed Thanos in the eyes to block his vision. Drax ran and slid forward, cut behind Thanos right knee, but Phantom stood behind to watch Thanos fighting style so she could find a way to beat him in hand to hand combat as Drax and Dr. Strange fought. She was amazed that Thanos held his own against two fighters even while being blindfolded. She noticed that Thanos grabbed Strange weapon and ripped off the webbing as Quill raced forward to fight. She send a thought to Strange mind, "The gauntlet. That's how he's controlling the stones. He can use the powers when his fist is closed." Once Quill approached, he managed to place a bomb on Thanos, and then activated it once Strange used a portal to get him away. Strange told his cloak to not allow Thanos to close his fist. The garment slew forward and swirled around the gauntlet, forbidding Thanos to close his fist. Strange began to open portals, allowing Spiderman to get his attacks in while he yelled what they were. Thanos managed to grab Spiderman, slam him against the ground, and then threw him in in a open area. Phantom used her abilities to manipulate the wind to where Peter was, she managed to catch him as she yelled/scolded to Peter, What did I say about announcing your attacks?" Tony came in out of nowhere and began to surround Thanos with a barrage of attacks, all of which Thanos managed to absorb and distribute back towards Thanos. Peter sprinted forward, lept, and webbed a rope to Thanos gauntlet before Thanos could unleash another attack. Thanos pulled Peter towards him, hit him on the throat, and then Tony sent a dismantled plane towards Thanos. Before anyone knew it, some blue cyborg chick showed and managed to fight Thanos on her own, until she asked about that person the Guardians asked about earlier, which allowed Thanos to get a hit.

Strange sent some magma-iron lines to Thanos gauntlet, forbidding him to close his fist. Phantom saw that it was now or never to trap Thanos, so Phantom raced forward. Everyone took a part to spread Thanos limbs, so that he couldn't fight. After Mantis got into Thanos head, Phantom was the last one to trap him by using the Earth to surround his body, creating additional weights so that if Thanos woke up, he would be weighed down. After she did that, Phantom felt her heart missing beats once again, her brain began to hurt all over, and she felt her blood curdled like old milk causing her to fall to her knees, then to her side, and coughed up blood, like she always did when she used her powers. Tony, Peter, and Strange all wanted to run to Phantom's side to aid her, but they knew that she would get angry and tell them to prioritize themselves. As Phantom struggle for her life once again, Quill ruined the entire plan. Phantom saw what Quill was going to do, she struggled at stand up and stop him, but she couldn't and only watched while she tried to get her heart to its normal heartbeat. When Thanos came back, Phantom was so close to getting her heart to beat on its own. She glanced up to see Thanos fighting everyone, and eventually he glanced back, saw the moon, used the purple stone while closing his fist, and brought the moon down to them. When Phantom saw the moon crumbles falling down to them, she pat her palms against the ground and summoned ceilings of stones to go over the Avengers and the Guardians. She made sure to create at least five ceilings per person for everyone, except for herself. Tony shot himself forward to get to her. He grabbed her and flew them away from the moon's impact to the planet. Once he landed them, he saw that her blood was pouring from her eyes, ears, and leaking through her mask, probably from her mouth. Tony leaned down and saw that she had some gashes from the destruction, so he had to ask if she was okay. She gently touched his cheek, gave a forced smile, and replied with strain, "I'll be fine. Enemy's still intact and we need to shut him down, now." Tony told her to stay in her place and that he would take care of it.

Tony went forward, sent his lock to the gauntlet, and told Thanos, "You throw another moon at me, and I'm gonna lose it." When Thanos said Tony's last name, Phantom knew that Thanos has known about all of them for years. After the exchange of talk about of curses, Thanos went for the exchange of attacks. Phantom stood up slowly, so that she could potentially help Tony if need be. Once she finally on her feet and walking forward. She saw that Thanos was going to beat Tony, so she ran forward to try to intercept the attack. She knew that she couldn't make it in time and that she saw a blade, she knew what she had to do. She threw herself in the tiny middle space between Tony and Thanos with her facing Tony. The blade went some of her intestines, partially through her descending aorta, and through Tony's side, missing anything major. As both Phantom and Tony repaired from the shocking attack, Thanos leaned down and whispered to the two, "You both have my respect. When I'm done, haft of humanity will still be alive. I hope they remember you." Tony held Phantom as she bled out onto his body. Thanos went to initiate the final death blow, and when he did, Tony held onto Phantom as tightly as he could, hoping that somehow her life would be spared not knowing that Phantom was praying for Tony to be saved. Before Thanos could shoot off the attack, Dr. Strange told him to stop and bargained to spare their lives for the time stone. Thanos made sure that there was no tricks, and when Dr. Strange assured him, Thanos agreed. Phantom and Tony both tried to sway Strange from that decision, but Strange was determined in his decision. After Thanos obtained the stone, Quill tried to send a barrage of attacks to Thanos, who only fled. Tony glanced over to Dr. Strange and asked why he did that and Strange only stated, "We're in the endgame now."

After he stated that, Phantom knew exactly what he was trying to do, and it exhausted her, so she slumped down to the ground. Tony leaned down to assist her while Strange and Peter ran to her aid to see her wounds. Peter saw all of the blood coming from her, and he remembered how she healed herself the day before. Peter ran as quickly he could back to the ship to where the cargo was. He found the medicine that she used before, sprinted back to where she was, and forced the green pill down her throat. The pill caused the wounds and blood on Tony's body and ground to return back to her body and the wound reversed healed itself. There were still some scrapes on her but she didn't need to puke up the remaining specks of the Time Stone, which was a nice change. When Peter saw that there was still some wounds, he went to inject her with some of the red liquid in the syringe that he remember she told them that was her medication. Phantom stopped him and told him that it wasn't going to help her or the current situation. When he looked puzzled, Phantom told him, "Each of the Stones have their own properties and do certain things when mixed with humans or genetics. The blue one is complicated. If you concentrate hard enough, you can send your blood, organs, or any part of the body somewhere. It's like donating blood. The yellow one is like a hardcore Ritalin. It makes you extremely focused and it very good use for making strategies. The purple one is from the fruit of the panther. It's like a five hour energy… actually it is more like filling a Big Gulp with five hour energies, putting steroids in it, and then chugging it down. Statically, it would change your genetics and amplify muscles, senses, and nerves, but if you can't handle it, it will kill you. It's technically a cancer, changing people's genes, whether you live or die is determined by how much you fight for your life. The green is, well kind of self-explanatory. It can heal your wounds by either forward the body's time and lifespan, or mend the wounds of reversing the impact against the body, but you can't control which way it goes, so it's a gamble every time you use it. Either the wounds will reverse heal or you shorten your lifespan by months or even years. Finally the red. It manipulates the brain show illusions, or dreams. Whenever I use it though… they would either show me parts of my dream life or my joyful memories. The illusions would could have lasted for as little as minutes or as long as, once, a month. The downside of this pill… you'll be stuck within the illusion until the effects wear off, which means that your senses become blind and you could become succumbed by dehydration or malnutrition. Also it is awfully addicting. The addiction is like a hardcore mixture of caffeine and tobacco. You crave the release of dopamine is so addicting cause every living creature drives for happiness and how to achieve it. I am used to using these stones and fruit, but if any of you were to try, they would kill you because your body won't adapt to them as fast as it would need to. My body has been forced to adapt for years, so these have greatly help me, but also hindering me. It's complicated to explain. What we need to know now, is that we failed and that we need to find a way to Earth as quickly as possible."

* * *

(WAKANDA)

While the battle of Wakanda raged on, the battle began to look bleak, until a ray of rainbow rained onto the Earth revealing an angry looking Thor, a tree-man, and a human-raccoon hybrid. Thor ran towards his alien enemies while be cried out, "BRING ME THANOS!" the raccoon and tree-man yelled out as well as Bruce boosted out how the aliens were screwed, now that Thor was there. While Thor fought through the army, Sun watched the battle rage on came to the conclusion that they would lose if any more of the aliens showed up, so Sun put his hand up to his com and ordered, "Fire the F.L.E.I.J.A. warhead. Fire it forty-five miles past the ships. No more, no less. On my mark." The missile moved to its coordinates, and as soon as Sun yelled "FIRE," the missile shot forward way past the ship and then a giant orb of light expanded outward fifty miles and then condensed; showing that whatever it absorbed was destroyed. After he did that, Thor fought some aliens and noticed both Steve and Sun Wukong. He noticed that Steve had a beard while Sun Wukong had long hair that went down to his thighs. Steve asked to Thor, "New haircut?" He gestured to the two and stated, "I've noticed that you two copied my hair and beard." Both of them just nodded, while sun stated, "I always had long hair, it was just tucked into my shirt." Thor motioned to the treeman and greeted, "By the way, this is my friend, Tree." The creature yelled, "I AM GROOT!" Sun just acknowledged him by nodding, but Steve greeted him, "I am Steve Rogers." Before anyone noticed, something huge emerged from the ground. They were five spirals that had blades attached, either squishing or cutting up the Earth inhabitants. Sun quickly ordered, "Archers of the Onocentaurus: aim for the side of the giant spirals, the outside with the spikes are guarded with a think shell similar to the giant whale chitauri creature. It's too think to penetrate head on, but the side is weaker. It's similar to Chitauri. Take out the middle and it will fall apart." Next thing, anyone knew, several beams of light, water, fire, and electricity shot out towards the spirals, making them break and unable to move.

As the battle raged on, Bucky fired at any enemy that he could but realized that the raccoon creature was also shooting, so he grabbed the creature, raised his gun in the other direction and they both fired at the aliens as Bucky spun them both around. The raccoon yelled out "Get some" as he fired at his enemies, until all of them were shot down. Bucky put him down, and then Rocket asked him how much for his gun. Bucky told the raccoon that it wasn't for sale and then when Rocket asked how much for his arm, Bucky remembered Victoria's face, and just scoffed at the creature and walked away, while Rocket stated that he was going to get the arm. While all that was happened, Wanda left her post to grab the three spirals that the Onocentaurus hadn't hit yet, and threw them to the other aliens in order to protect Natasha and Okoye. The Four Celestial Beast Warriors stood at their posts ready to intervene if necessary, little did they know that something entered the chambers. Zhi Ming walked along his area, and right as he sensed the threat, the alien was already charging his attack forward to impact Zhi Ming through his heart. All three of his brothers felt the impact of the eldest, and all turn towards him and yelled, "ZHI MING!" The youngest, and most passion-filled and hotheaded of the four, charged to his brother's aid. The alien pulled out his spear revealing the impaled heart, enraging the youngest, who busted into the fight without thinking, but only feeling. He yelled out as he fought the alien and his other two brothers joined into the fight with their weapons. The men all fought as much as they could, but the alien was too skilled for them. The alien swept the legs of Meng Zhang and Jian Bing, making them unable to fight, but Ling Guang, no matter how hurt he was, kept his ground and continued to fight for his older brothers. The alien smirked at the sloppiness of the youngest warrior, and began to slash him down as his brothers yelled at him to stand down. He told them that Phantom counted on them and that Zhi Ming's death would have been in vain if he didn't obtain the stone. Ling Guang kept his ground until the alien knocked him to the ground, slashed the back of his knees, and made him unable to move. The alien just went towards Shuri and Vision, but as soon as he turned his back, Ling Guang conjured up his energy and shot a ball of fire towards the alien that the alien deflected. The alien went back towards him, pulled Ling Guang by his fiery hair. The alien complimented him on his valiant efforts, but Ling Guang only looked to his only two brothers, told them to stay strong, then the alien slashed his blade against Ling Guang's throat as the brothers yelled out in protest. Blood drained from Ling Guang's neck as the last remaining brother's began to weep for the glue that was their oldest brother, Zhi Ming, and the baby of the four brothers, Ling Guang.

After the brothers had fallen to the alien, it went over to Shuri and the others. They tried to defend themselves, but the alien easily fought them off, until the android decided to join the fight, forcing them both out the window. Falcon warned the others about Vision's whereabouts, and Bruce was the one who went after him. Bruce tried to work as quickly as he could to get to Vision, but he was unfortunately stopped by the largest of the intelligent aliens who invaded Earth. Steve was the only one to get to Vision in time and told the android to flee, so that he could fight off the alien without any distraction. The alien held his own against the alien as much as he could, and he was able to pin Steve against the ground. He was about to take Steve's life, until the android appeared from behind and stabbed the alien. The android then fell from exhaustion that it felt. Wanda finally showed up to Vision's aid and then Vision felt the presence of the one he feared most. And he informed them of his fears becoming reality. The wind howled until Thanos appeared from a black and blue fog. Steve ordered for them to move at, and then all of them went for the attack, but Thanos held his own against every single one of them. Vision had to beg Wanda to destroy the stone, and when she argued, Vision explained to her that only she could destroy the stone in that moment. Wanda expelled her powers at the android as the others held off Thanos on their own. After Thanos defeated them all, Wanda held him back as she finished off Vision's stone, shattering it to the point of unfixable. Thanos approached her trying to explain that he understood her sacrifice and comfort her. Thanos used the time stone to undo Wanda's attack and repair the stone. When Wanda tried to stop him, he punched her away, and ripped out Vision's life force, making him a gray shell of mechanical parts. After Thanos put the stone with the rest of the gauntlet and felt the power surge, Thor arrived and stabbed Thanos with his axe. Only to have it in vain, as Thanos snapped his fingers to do his final work. The stone did there work, and fried the gauntlet into Thanos hand as a result. Thor asked what did Thanos do, but Thanos didn't respond and only disappeared into the blue and black fog.

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(BACK TO TITAN!)

While all of this was happening, back on Titan, Phantom was proceeding to chew out Quill for the stunt he just pulled with Thanos. Quill told her that they would get them back, but Phantom stated, "We wouldn't have to plan to get them back. We would have already had them if you wouldn't have let your emotions get in the way." Quill quickly retorted back to that she let her emotions get in the way when Peter got captured, and she quickly snapped at him, "Even if I did, it wasn't in the balance of something greater. I know when I need to make difficult decisions, even if it means to sacrifice lives. That's what being a true leader is about: knowing how to make the difficult decisions and to stick with your decisions when you make them. Emotions make tasks harder. Especially when you are forced to make a difficult decision. Your soul stood in the way. You had Thanos and if you hadn't let your emotions get in the way, we would have already had the stones. Dead is dead and you can't do anything to bring someone back, and even if you find a way to bring them back, there is probably a high price to pay, as in common in all history. You should have tossed your love for her away as soon as you knew that she was gone. Cut off from all pain and loss, a bit like me." Tony felt that it was completely despicable, callous, haughty, and unfair of her to say, so he went forward to confront her, but stopped his tracks when Mantis stated that something was happing. Phantom glanced over to her and saw that she disappeared in a cloud of dust. Next, Drax was the one that vanished, who was followed by Quill. The Strange who told Phantom and Tony that there was no other way. Phantom and Tony attentions were drawn at the same time, when they heard, "Mr. Stark. Victoria." Both of them turned to Peter, who was stumbling towards them as he had a look of pain on his face, while exclaiming, "I don't feel so good." Phantom held an intense fear within her eyes as she ran forward and held the boy for dear life as she pled, "No. No, no, no, no, no. No, please God. You can't take him away from me too. Please, not again." Tony ran up to the two and held both of them as he stated that Peter was alright, and Peter told them he didn't know what was happening. Peter pled to the two as they held him stating that he didn't want to go. Phantom gently laid him onto the floor, and he looked deeply into both of their eyes and told them he was sorry, and disappeared in a mist of dust. Tony looked at the dust that was on his hands as did Victoria, who was shaking for the intense feeling of lost once again. Tony put his arms around her and told her to let it out, but she knew that it wasn't the time and that she couldn't afford to take anymore of her stone pills. She told him that she'll let it out once she sees Thanos again, but at that moment they needed to find a way to get to Earth for some backup and recon. As soon she got a considerable distance away, she felt something with a dire intent approaching her, so she grabbed her vibranium sword and got ready to fight. Thanos appeared from a cloud of smoke, grabbed her from behind, making her armed arm unable to move, and dragged her into the cloud as she reached out to Tony, and yelled, "TONY!" Tony reached out to try to save her, but in a flash, the last thing that kept him alive was taken from him too.

* * *

I don't anything except for the Pack and Phantom! I have finally finished it. Guys, I am super sorry I am late writing this. I know that I said that was going to have this finished two months ago, but the holidays were hectic, and I have been working two jobs while balancing school. I do have my outline planned for the future chapter, and I will have it done in another two weeks or so, since my life is beginning to slow down and I have Spring Break starting next week.

I HOPE YOU GUYS ENJOYED! What will happen to Phantom and the Avengers now? Will they reassemble, will they have a counterattack for Thanos? How will they undo the snap?! READ TO FIND OUT!

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{P.S: I am very aware about the lemons section as it seemed very OOC of Peter, but I drew this more from the darker version of Spiderman, as such as his flings with Black Cat and Silk, and the various secretaries, so I see that as a kinky side of wanting to be dominanate [If you are a secretary, I'm going from the male 50's perspective from the comics, and I apologize] and little bit from Tom Holland's personality. I'm sorry, but I see Tom Holland as having a little bit of a kinky side. (Tom, if you ever read this, HMU)}


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